Ted Bishop remorseful, recounts process of his PGA ‘impeachment’

Ted Bishop apologized to the golf world on Tuesday for calling Ian Poulter a “lil girl,” saying he wished he had never hit the button that sent his poor choice of words into the Twittersphere.

“I really regret, like you can’t imagine, what I did, what I said, particularly the implications that came out of it,” Bishop, appearing with Gary Williams on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive, said in his first televised interview since the PGA of America removed him from the presidency on Friday in the wake of his social media blunder. “I’ve asked myself a lot, what would have been a better choice of words than the phrase ‘little girl.’ If I would have said ‘little boys’ would this have been different?”

In attempting to defend his actions -- which he blamed more on social media than on the offensiveness of his words -- Bishop said the emotions that had swelled since the Europeans routed the Americans at last month’s Ryder Cup, under his handpicked captain Tom Watson, boiled over on Thursday.

“I overreacted emotionally and I’m embarrassed and I apologize,” Bishop said.

Bishop seemed sincere and emotional to the point of tears at times during the interview, in which he gave his side of the story for what culminated in the PGA firing him for what the association termed his “insensitive gender-based statements.”

After appearing with Nick Faldo at a junior golf program last week, Bishop went on social media to blast Ian Poulter for criticizing Faldo in his recently released autobiography. Bishop twice — on Twitter and Facebook — called Poulter a “little girl” for what the former PGA president apparently viewed as disrespectful whining by the European Ryder Cup star about Faldo’s disparaging comments regarding Sergio Garcia.

“What I was really trying to say was, ‘why don’t we all just grow up?’” Bishop said. “I think the icons in the game should be treated with a certain amount of reverence and I felt like that didn’t happen necessarily with Tom after the Ryder Cup and it wasn’t happening with Nick then.”

The Bishop/PGA saga, which overshadowed the achievements of first-time winners (Lee-Anne Pace at the Blue Bay LPGA and Robert Streb at the PGA Tour’s McGladrey Classic) and all else in the golf world, began less than a week ago, when Bishop fired off his ill-considered posts and the PGA responded by firing him.

The story started long before Thursday night, though, with Bishop naming Tom Watson captain of the 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup team in December 2012 and kindling the firestorm that was to ignite nearly two years later.

There was likely more to the unprecedented removal of Bishop from office than what transpired at last month’s Ryder Cup. Regarded as a maverick since he was voted into office in November 2012, Bishop raised the ire of many with his vehement opposition to the USGA and R&A’s proposed ban on anchored putters and offered unorthodox ideas like staging the PGA Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland and deploying larger holes and other “non-traditional” ways to stem the decline in play.

But it was the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, where the Euros dusted Watson’s 12-player squad, 16.5-11.5, that was Bishop’s undoing. After Phil Mickelson indirectly lashed out at his team’s skipper for lack of communication and other faults (concerns Bishop said Lefty voiced to him back in July), the PGA announced that an 11-member task force would assess all aspects of the Ryder Cup approach, including captain and player selections.

With the wounds from the shellacking in Scotland still festering and no doubt a topic of much discussion between Bishop and Faldo last week, Bishop hit send on his “lil girl” posts. The comments went viral and all hell broke loose.

It took Bishop 90 minutes, after checking his phone and seeing reaction from what he had said, to realize he was in trouble.

“Someone had labeled me a sexist and I knew immediately I had a huge problem,” said Bishop, who deleted both posts but believed the situation was “serious” yet salvageable.

He knew he had to apologize and, after a quick phone conversation with a PGA communications director Julius Mason, was waiting for the PGA to write a statement for him to make.

“It was not in my words and it wasn’t apologetic in any way, shape or form,” said Bishop, who conceded that the language was appropriate for what appeared to be an issue that “maybe ... wasn’t that big a deal.”

The next morning, Bishop received a text from PGA board member Dottie Pepper, who years ago weathered her own crisis of words when as a TV analyst she disparaged the 2007 U.S. Solheim team as “chokin’ freakin’ dogs.” Her message, “from one friend to another who’s been through something like this,” Bishop said was, “you need to get out in front of this with an apology.”

In the meantime, Poulter termed Bishop’s remarks “shocking and disappointing,” we called for the PGA to demand Bishop’s resignation though reaction to the comments was decidedly mixed, and the PGA board was working feverishly behind the scenes to remove Bishop from office as the then-president was crafting his own mea culpa.

“I felt remorse,” Bishop said. “This is not an apology just because it’s the right thing to do; I’m feeling terrible because of all the things I’ve done in my career to help women, to be an advocate for women,” referencing his own two daughters who work in the golf business.

Bishop submitted his language to the PGA, which responded with complete radio silence, and he headed back home to Indiana with the recognition that his job was in jeopardy.

“You’re getting no communication from anybody, you know you’re in trouble,” said Bishop, who confided to his wife that he expected the board to ask him to resign. “The silence was deafening.”

When he arrived in Indiana and saw a text from PGA vice president Derek Sprague asking for a conference call, Bishop “pretty much knew my fate was sealed.”

The ax fell Friday morning, a month before Bishop’s two-year term was to expire.

“The impeachment proceedings had begun, and I get that,” Bishop said. “The PGA of America has got to worry about themselves and I created this mess.”

Bishop also averred that he refused to resign because he wanted to apologize in person to the board.

“It wasn’t a matter of me going down swinging or me being obstinate or being resistant,” he said, noting that “due process” should take place.

Bishop believed he was sacked due to negative feedback from the media, potential damage to sponsor relationships, “an outpouring of negative responses from PGA members,” and that he had “committed a code of ethics violation.”

Bishop’s full-court press for redemption began in earnest on Monday, when a Golf World interview with the beleaguered ex-president revealed a man frustrated by the treatment of Watson after the Ryder Cup loss, clueless about his poor choice of words in his online posts until too late, regretful for not apologizing sooner and on his terms, and overtaken by how quickly his presidency came to an inglorious end.

Mostly, though, Bishop was adamant that the PGA’s board of directors, which was reportedly unanimous in its swift and decisive judgment, went overboard in tossing him out -- a sentiment he reiterated on Tuesday.

“I don’t think the punishment fits the crime,” Bishop told Williams.

As for what most observers believed was overkill regarding Bishop’s PGA future, the organization sought on Monday to explain his status. The ousted executive “will retain his status as a member of the PGA of America,” the “statement of clarification” read. “As such, he will enjoy the same rights and privileges of all PGA members, including the ability to attend PGA of America events.”

The PGA will continue to recognize Bishop as its 38th president and his “record of service” during his tenure “will remain intact,” according to the statement. Bishop will not, however, serve on the board as honorary president and will not enjoy “the rights and privileges” of a former president.

Bishop continued to claim that he never said his record would be expunged, but that Sprague told him twice he would have no status.

“It’s just painful from the standpoint of demonstrating how stupid I was to have done what I did. More painful than that is the remorse I feel because it potentially wipes out a lot of really good work that I’ve done over my career with women,” said Bishop, who recounted his work with three little girls in the PGA Junior League and his role in an PGA/LPGA/KPMG initiative. “I was an advocate for equal rights for women with the R&A during my term ... It’s painful because it’s taken a lot of things that I’ve done and put them down the drain.”

In the end, Bishop noted that he had only himself to blame.

“I created this mess. It’s my fault. It’s not the PGA of America’s fault, it’s my fault,” he said. “I don’t think the punishment fits the crime, but it is what it is and I have to accept that, and I’m not bitter about that in any way, shape or form.”