15th Minute: PGA Prez Bishop Calls Poulter "Lil girl"

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PGA of America Ted Bishop may have stayed around a few minutes too long even though a case could be made that he's had a very successful presidency in re-establishing the PGA's relevance.

Reminding the governing bodies of the everyday man's desire to anchor putters, introducing more women-friendly initiatives, making the bold choice to select Tom Watson as Ryder Cup captain and leaving the PGA of America in a better place than he found it certainly made his presidency interesting and in my view, a largely positive one.

That said, Tweeting and then Facebooking a jab at majorless autobiographer Ian Poulter about his lack of respect for his major-winning elders was within reason. But delving into petty sexism? That was beneath the president.

John Strege reports Bishop's since-deleted missives. The Facebook post was the most elaborate (pictured here) and suggested Poulter sounded like "a little school girl squealing during recess." That will not win metaphor of the year.

Will Gray also recounts the entire Thursday afternoon saga with both deleted posts and features an exclusive response from Poulter.

"Is being called a "lil girl" meant to be derogatory or a put down?" Poulter told Golf Channel. "That's pretty shocking and disappointing, especially coming from the leader of the PGA of America. No further comment."

Poulter also Tweeted this:

In an unbylined AP story, Bishop attempted a clarification of sorts via email:

Bishop said in an email Thursday night to The Associated Press, "Obviously I could have selected some different ways to express my thoughts on Poulter's remarks. Golf had always been a sport where respect was shown to its icons. That seems to have gone by the wayside."

Or maybe in the 21st century the icons need to continue to behave like gentlemen even after they've earned icon status by getting their ball into a hole fewer times than others at one of four events designated a "major"? Just thinking out loud here...

According to Gray, PGA of America spokesman Julius Mason issued a short statement: “Ted realized that his post was inappropriate and promptly removed it.”