Ewen Murray recently marked his 35th anniversary as one of the defining voices of Sky Sports’ golf coverage, with a tenure that spanned generations of golf’s biggest moments.
Now the former professional – winner of the 1977 Royal Dornoch Northern Open – is beginning to wind down his broadcasting career. With just a handful of games remaining, Murray is preparing to step away from the microphone for good.
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The final push for the legendary commentator’s retirement comes at the 2025 Ryder Cup.
Sky Sports’ Ewen Murray at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, Virginia.
Talk about a compelling plot slice Speaking on the podcast, alongside musician and golf superfan Sam Harrop and British journalist Ben Colley, Murray explained that his resolve was strengthened after hearing the nature of the abuse directed at Rory McIlroy and others – comments shouted out from the stands that crossed a line he could no longer ignore.
Murray’s Saturday shift began later in the day, giving him time to linger around the turns at Bethpage Black as players passed. What he heard there stuck with him—and finally clarified a decision that had been quietly taking shape.
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“In that half hour, I heard some things that I can’t repeat to you, it was terrible. Not directed at Rory, but directed at Rory’s family. I walked back and I thought, ‘Do you really need to be involved in this anymore?’ That’s when I decided to end my comments. When I got on the plane on Monday, I looked out over New York and thought it was a wonderful ride, but if this is our future, I really don’t want to be a part of it.”
The rude behavior of fans during the Ryder Cup, who crossed the line and viciously insulted McIlroy and his European Ryder Cup partner Sean Lowry, was the focus of media coverage.
Personal attacks on Saturday targeted McIlroy’s marriage and Lowry’s figure, with an American fan approaching Rory’s father, Gerry McIlroy, who was walking inside the ropes and apologizing for the classless behavior of a fan yelling “F–you” or worse.
Dubai Desert Classic commentators Evan Murray and Bruce Critchley.
Murray noticed this and had his harshest criticism of the PGA of America and Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley.
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“I just thought, what a terrible organization this is,” Murray said of the PGA. “I shouldn’t say that because my dad was captain of the Scottish PGA in the mid-70s, so it was part of my upbringing.
“I don’t think they did themselves any favors. I also feel like that woman who was cursing behind the tee and yelling at Rory in a horrible way, if Keegan Bradley had come over to support and waved and made the crowd louder, Keegan Bradley probably would have been a Ryder Cup winning captain if he had spent the same amount of time looking at his pairings. I think they spent too much energy on something that was disgusting and really had no place in our game.”
This article originally appeared in Golfweek: Sky Sports Evan Murray to retire, calls PGA a ‘terrible organization’