Veteran golf commentator Ewen Murray witnessed horrific abuse directed at Rory McIlroy’s family at the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage, prompting him to step back from Sky Sports commentary after 35 years
Veteran golf commentator Ewen Murray has revealed how witnessing the appalling abuse directed at Rory McIlroy’s family at last year’s Ryder Cup left him wanting to retire from broadcasting.
Murray has been a central figure in Sky Sports’ golf coverage for 35 years but chose to take a step back after being disturbed by the scenes at Bethpage in New York.
The 71 year old, who will rejoin the Sky Sports team for the major championships this season, told the Sliced Podcast: “On the Saturday, I had two hours off after they teed off in the afternoon,
“Because I don’t hear tremendously well, I thought I’d go out to the 9th, 10th and 11th which were quite close to the television village.
“I heard stuff in that half hour that I can’t repeat to you, it’s that bad. Not fired at Rory but at Rory’s family. I walked back and I thought ‘do you really need to be part of this anymore?’
“That’s when I decided to finish commentary. By the time I got on the plane on the Monday, I looked out over New York and thought its been a fantastic journey, but if that’s our future, I really don’t want any part of it.”
The offensive chants that sections of the American crowd directed at their European rivals, particularly McIlroy, sparked significant controversy during the team event.
And Murray believes American Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley bears some responsibility for the incidents, with the experienced commentator also expressing strong disapproval of Heather McMahan’s behaviour.
McMahan, a comedian and actress employed by the PGA of America to energise the crowd positioned near the first tee, was subsequently removed after leading chants of “F*** you Rory” through a megaphone.
“The PGA of America should be ashamed employing a woman at the back of the first tee to behave the way she behaved,” Murray added. “I actually found out, thankfully, she doesn’t have kids. So we’re not going to see the next generation of that. I thought her performance was disgraceful.
“If Keegan Bradley who came and supported it and waved his hands to get the crowd to get louder… if he spent as much time looking at his pairings, [he] may well have been a winning Ryder Cup captain. They spent way too much energy on something that was disgusting and really had no place in our game.”
Murray also condemned PGA of America president Don Rea for neglecting to denounce the abuse being aimed at the European players and for congratulating Europe on “retaining the Ryder Cup” in the aftermath rather than acknowledging they had won outright as they had done.
“[I thought] where have you been for the last few hours?” Murray added. “They didn’t retain. They had a putt to retain which they knocked in, then they had a putt to win which they knocked in.
“I just thought what a terrible organisation. I shouldn’t say that because my father was captain of the PGA in Scotland in the mid-seventies so it was very much part of growing up and my father’s involvement in that and every other profession involved in the PGA but I don’t think they did themselves any favours at all.”
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