Brandel Chamblee calls for Ted Bishop’s resignation in wake of ‘cyberbullying’ Twitter incident

Ted Bishop acted like a cyberbully and insulted women with a sexist tweet aimed at Ian Poulter Thursday night and the PGA of America president should resign because of it, said Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee.

“I was surprised, actually, this morning that he didn’t resign,” Chamblee, echoing our call for Bishop to step down, said on-air Friday about the ruckus Bishop stirred up with comments he made on social media in defense of his friend, Nick Faldo.

Chamblee offered his response after Bishop called Poulter a “Lil girl” on Twitter and said on Facebook that Poulter “sounds like a little school girl squealing during recess.” Someone deleted both comments within an hour of their posting.

Bishop’s remarks were in response to Poulter’s criticism in his recently released autobiography, “No Limits,” of 2008 European Ryder Cup captain Faldo for comments he made about Sergio Garcia. Bishop, who has firmly cemented his legacy as a “buffoon” (according to James Corrigan), took it upon himself to uphold Faldo’s own character, and that’s when he stepped way over the line of polite discourse.

Poulter was uncharacteristically measured in his response to Bishop, but Chamblee was impassioned in his rebuke to the head of an organization whose mission is to boost the the game of golf by inviting rather than insulting prospective members.

“What Ted Bishop has done is stigmatize a body of people [the 27,000 female and male PGA instructors] who are working hard to grow this game,” Chamblee said. “Think about all of the negative things that are said, derogatory comments that are said about women in golf: you leave a putt short, ‘hit it, Alice’ … ‘Got caught in your skirt,’ ‘like a girl.’

Chamblee noted how anyone who has a daughter (as Chamblee has) would defend her or his child against denigrating language. He also urged viewers to watch a popular YouTube video, “Like a Girl,” which seeks to educate misogynists about the power of language that disparages half the population.

While the discussion has become all about Bishop’s brainlessness, Chamblee reminded viewers that Poulter was guilty of cyberbullying earlier this year when he called Doral playing partner Hideki Matsuyami an idiot on Twitter for boorish on-course behavior rather than chastising him privately. After a golf writer took issue with Poulter’s approach, the Ryder Cup standout went after him as well, comparing him, for some reason, to a part of the male anatomy. And on and on it went, just as Chamblee described it.

“This is cyberbullying,” Chamblee said.

As for Bishop, whose two-year term will end next month at the PGA’s annual meeting, if not before, Chamblee demanded more than a tepid mea culpa from the outgoing executive.

“He needs to offer a more formal and more substantial apology to the group of women that he has just offended, and more than that to the group of women and young ladies that he is hoping to include at a time when everybody’s talking about growing the game, becoming more inclusive,” said Chamblee. “The man that is heading the group that is trying to grow the game has offended [women] in a very negligent way.”

UPDATE: In an historic first, the PGA board voted Friday night to oust Bishop, expunge the entire record of his nearly 24-month term, and bar him from any future PGA Championships and Ryder Cups. Bishop, who had a month left on his two-year tenure, apologized in a statement to Poulter and “anyone else I might have offended.”

Rather than accept the board’s offer to resign, Bishop saw the process through to the end.

”The board heard me out and then voted to impeach me,” he said. “That is the due process and I respect that, as painful as it might be.”

After a tumultuous 24 hours following Bishop’s unfortunate social media posts, the PGA board determined that the comments flew in the face of the organization’s mission.

“The PGA of America understands the enormous responsibility it has to lead this great game and to enrich lives in our society through golf,” PGA chief executive Pete Bevacqua said in a statement. “We must demand of ourselves that we make golf both welcoming and inclusive to all who want to experience it, and everyone at the PGA of America must lead by example.”

At its November 22 annual meeting, the board is expected to tap Derek Sprague as its next president and he will act as interim leader in the meantime.

In acknowledging his missteps, Bishop said the board handcuffed him from doing so earlier in the day.

“This is a classic example of poor use of social media on my part and if I had the chance to hit the delete button on the things that I sent out yesterday, I would without hesitation,” Bishop conceded. “The PGA of America asked me to avoid any interaction with the media in the past 24 hours and that is why I did not issue a formal and public apology, which I have wanted to do since early this morning.”