St Simons Island, Georgia: The PGA of America president referred to Ian Poulter as a little girl on two social media accounts on Thursday evening for his criticism of the jobs Nick Faldo and Tom Watson did as Ryder Cup captains.

Faldo, who won six majors and is regarded among Britain’s greatest players, was captain of the last European team that lost the Ryder Cup in 2008. Watson, who has five British Open titles among his eight majors, was captain of the US team that lost at Gleneagles last month.

Poulter, a European stalwart with a 12-4-2 record in the Ryder Cup, criticised both in his book ‘No Limits’, which was released this week.

PGA President Ted Bishop was with Faldo on Thursday at The Greenbrier for the “Faldo Series” junior program when he tweeted to Poulter, “Faldo’s record stands by itself. Six majors and all-time RC points. Yours vs. His? Lil Girl.”

In a separate posting on his Facebook page, Bishop lamented that athletes who had “lesser records or accomplishments in a sport never criticised the icons.” He mentioned Watson’s eight majors and 10-3-1 record in the Ryder Cup, and Faldo’s six majors and record with most Ryder Cup points in history getting ‘bashed’ by Poulter.

“Really? Sounds like a little schoolgirl squealing during recess. C’MON MAN!”

The PGA of America said Bishop “realised that his post was inappropriate and promptly removed it.”

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.”

Poulter had tweeted before leaving for China, “I guess we can only have opinions if you won a major or 6.” He was not aware of Bishop’s tweet until he landed and was inundated with messages.

Poulter said in a brief telephone interview that he was disappointed in Bishop’s tweet. He later released a statement to Golf Channel.

“Is being called a ‘lil girl’ meant to be derogatory or a put down?” Poulter said in the statement. “That’s pretty shocking and disappointing, especially coming from the leader of the PGA of America. No further comment.”

Watson benched Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley for both sessions on Saturday at the Ryder Cup as the Americans fell behind. He also played Webb Simpson, one of his captain’s picks, only once. Europe won 16.5-11.5, their eighth win in the last 10 Ryder Cups.