“Bryson Bryson Bryson” chant on the first tee became “F–k you, Rory” chant at Bethpage. It was Heather McMahan leading the Bryson chant, but her mistake was to repeat the Rory chant once on the mic. What happened afterwards was the spiral. The camera caught it, and suddenly she was the villain, who was fired from her job, in the abuse hurled against Rory McIlroy & co. Now, a week later, both McMahan and two insiders have refused to give in the narrative.

During a discussion on the recent episode of Quite Please! With Mel and Kira, the two hosts started a conversation on the same incident.

“Probably shouldn’t have done [repeat the chant],” but “she didn’t start it,” said Kira.

“But she has gotten so much insane hate for it,” said Dixon.

Joining them was the LPGA pro, Mel Reid. She knows McMahan personally. “(McMahan is) like the funniest, loveliest, like well-meaning, like loves golf, by the way. Like loves golf, and it’s just, yeah, it was a shame. The crowd kind of turned on her a little bit, and then she, I think she just panicked, and I would probably have done the f*cking same thing,” Reid added during the discussion.

McMahan owned up to her mistake, issuing a swift apology to McIlroy after the event. On Wednesday, on her Absolutely Not podcast, she shed light on the drama.

“I made the absolutely horrible mistake of saying it back to them once.” Then, confessed, “I will take full responsibility and sincerely apologize to Rory [and] Team Europe for saying that. It was so foolish of me. I did not start the chant. I was just like that narrative to get out there.”

But the problem, Dixon and Reid say, is that the PGA of America even needed a hype person. “Can I just say the fact that you guys even need a hype person to get the crowd going, to me, is insane,” Reid commented.

To which Dixon replied, “Yeah, she should not have been put in that position. It’s just, the whole situation was really unfortunate.”

Ask McMahan, and she would say she did not expect that position. In a post-Ryder Cup interview, she admitted she was looking forward to some “celebrity interviews” and being on the “broadcast.”

Yet, “That did not happen. And then I was like, OK, so I’m just kind of like a glorified cheerleader.” And definitely part of an unwanted conversation. Regardless, this isn’t the only fresh controversy surrounding the European team members, a week after the Ryder Cup. There’s another one.

PGA of America owns up to its offensive remarks following a similar backlash to Heather McMahan

PGA of America President Don Rea faced intense backlash after downplaying the abuse Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry faced at Bethpage, saying, “I haven’t heard some of that, and I’m sure it has happened… Rory understands.” That wasn’t the only trouble. Aside from downplaying the glaring issue and a failure from the PGA in crowd control, Rea likened the event to that of Rome. It soon became a game of whataboutism. It did not go down well with anyone.

However, following heavy criticisms, Rea sent an email to Bunkered’s Michael McEwan, saying, “Some fan behavior clearly crossed the line. It was disrespectful of who we are as the PGA of America or as PGA of America Golf Professionals.” In another published interview with Associated Press’ Doug Ferguson, he admitted, “While the competition was spirited – especially with the US team’s rally on Sunday afternoon – some fan behavior clearly crossed the line.”

Rea confessed it was “disrespectful, inappropriate, and not representative of who we are as the PGA or as PGA of America golf professionals. We condemn that behavior unequivocally.” The point? The PGA of America and its emcee made a few “horrible” mistakes, yet the conversations about them are here to stay.