If Ted Bishop's story offers warning to high-ranking executives involved in sports, it's that social media can be a powerful tool in spreading views in an instant. The former president of the PGA of America paid a heavy price for one colossal error in judgement 10 years ago after launching a verbal tirade at Ian Poulter in public, which saw him sacked from his job.
Just as quickly as people can go viral for the right reasons, their livelihoods can also be destroyed with one click of a button. Taking on the Team Europe's Ryder Cup hero proved to be an ill-advised move.
In 2014, Bishop was removed from his post as the head of American golf's governing body after it was deemed that he had made 'insensitive gender-based' comments about the Englishman.
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The sliding doors moment for Bishop came when he labelled Poulter a 'lil girl', following a series of outbursts made on his personal X and Facebook pages.
He had responded after reading how Poulter criticised Sir Nick Faldo and Tom Watson in his autobiography, 'No Limits', taking aim at the methods they used when they were Ryder Cup captains.
"Most of us in the European team are astonished when we see the Saturday morning pairings and their names are not there," Poulter said in criticising Watson, referring to Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley's absences.
"It tells us that there are problems in the U.S. team room. There have to be. It's the only explanation for leaving out two players like that."
Realising the error of his ways, Bishop swiftly removed the posts. But the speed at which his words were shared on the internet meant the damage had been done already.
Unsurprisingly, Poulter was bemused and felt let down by Bishop's comments, calling out the former PGA America chief for his verbal attack.
"Is being called a 'lil girl' meant to be derogatory or a put down?" he said. "That's pretty shocking and disappointing, especially coming from the leader of the PGA of America. No further comment."
Reflecting on the ugly incident a decade later, Bishop admitted he still struggles to put the incident to the back of his mind and described it as the 'biggest regret of my life'.
"Trust me, there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it. It's the biggest regret of my life," he told Sports Illustrated. "I felt like we did a lot of good things in those two years and it didn't end the way I envisioned.
"I've said this many times. I make no excuses. It was a bonehead move. It had been a rough few weeks after the Ryder Cup, and I just kind of got sucked into the moment. It was really unfortunate and unfortunately there is nothing I can do about it."
Despite calls for his reinstatement to the PGA, Bishop remains on the outside looking in. But he has found a different path closer to his heart after joining as a director and manager of The Legends Golf Club in Franklin, Indiana, where he oversaw the construction and development of what originally was a 45-hole complex.
