PGA of America President Don Rea Jr. has recently been shifted from his broader leadership and governance role on the PGA Tour. He will no longer serve on the Tour board and has been reassigned to focus strictly on “member-first priorities” for the rest of his term.

As per the latest report from The Quadrilateral’s Geoff Shackelford, Don Rea hasn’t been a member of either PGA Tour Inc. or PGA Tour Enterprises board since November and has been replaced by the vice president Nathan Charnes.

“As has been observed, PGA of America President Don Rea’s responsibilities are now aligned to member-first priorities for the remainder of his term,” the PGA was quoted as saying via Golfweek. “He will focus on board leadership, governance, section engagement and initiatives that directly support PGA of America golf professionals and reinforce the grassroots foundation of the Association.

“With the recent CEO leadership transition complete and a new president taking office this fall, these changes reflect the Board’s commitment to governance clarity, leadership alignment and sustained momentum for the Association.”

For the uninitiated, Rea came under heavy scrutiny during the 2025 Ryder Cup for not properly handling the rowdy USA fan behavior that crossed the line against Rory McIlroy and other European pros. While he later apologized for the incident, he hasn’t been publicly active since.

Notably, the PGA of America has always had at least one member on the PGA Tour board since the pros and club pros split in 1968.

What PGA Tour President Don Rea Jr. said about Ryder Cup fans

Last year, PGA Tour President Don Rea Jr. made serval comments regarding the fans behavior. In his first comment, he compared the Bethpage Black fans with the ones at youth soccer game.

“Well, you have 50,000 people there that are really excited, and heck, you can go to a youth soccer game and get some people who say the wrong things,” Rea said. “I haven’t heard some of that. I’m sure it’s happened … Rory understands things like that are going to happen.”

In another statement, Rea shared his personal opinion on his LinkedIn, stating that he was receiving criticism for his comments but he wasn’t bothered by that. However, after a severe backlash, Rea retracted from his comments and condemned the behaviour of USA crowd towards McIlroy and others.

“Let me begin with what we must own. While the competition was spirited — especially with the U.S. team’s rally on Sunday afternoon — some fan behavior clearly crossed the line,” he wrote. “It was disrespectful, inappropriate, and not representative of who we are as the PGA of America or as PGA of America golf professionals. We condemn that behavior unequivocally.”

Don Rea Jr. took the office in 2024 as the 44th president of the PGA and will stay at the office till the end of the year.