Ewen Murray has decided to step away from commentary and it all goes back to what he heard during the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.

Murray explained how one moment led to his decision. Speaking on the Sliced podcast, he said: “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 ninth, 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 the commentary.”

He has not renewed his contract with Sky Sports and is now working out when he will stop. The decision connects directly to crowd behavior during the event.

Abuse was aimed at Rory McIlroy’s family. His wife, Erica McIlroy, faced repeated insults and was hit by a beer can thrown from the crowd. And it wasn't just Erica facing the crowd. European golfers faced hecklers and chants that turned the 2025 Ryder Cup as a benchmark of how aggressive crowds could be.

But it didn't stop there. Keegan Bradley, the Team USA Captain, believed fans were being passionate, pointing to how fans were passionate at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome. While Bradley the instances of fans crossing the line unfortunate, he still faced a lot of backlash. And Murray addressed the same thing.

"I don't think they did themselves any favors at all. I also feel with the woman who was swearing behind the tee, shouting at Rory in a horrible manner, 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, Keegan Bradley may well have been a winning Ryder Cup captain."

Beyond the incident itself, questions were also raised about the official response.

The PGA of America Went On To Apologize

Later, Derek Sprague, the CEO of the PGA of America, said, “I sent a long email to share with Rory and Erica, and just told him that we will do better in the future. I’m the CEO now. I don’t condone this type of behavior. This is not good for the game of golf. It’s not good for the Ryder Cup. It’s not good for any of the professional athletes, and we will do better.”

Murray plans to commentate at the Masters and may step away after the Seniors Open in July.

And as the focus moves ahead, the conversation now shifts to leadership and control around the event, with attention turning toward figures such as Keegan Bradley and how future Ryder Cup environments will be managed.

Read more at Daily Club Golf!

Written by

Aditi Singh

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar