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Colt Knost says PGA Tour should end Presidents Cup to fix Team USA’s Ryder Cup struggles

Originally posted on HITC | By Antony Martin | Last updated Oct 11, 2025 7:34 AM ET

Europe has had the better of the United States at the Ryder Cup for most of the past 30 years. That record speaks for itself, with Europe winning 11 of their last 15 meetings.

The U.S. hasn’t managed to win on European soil since 1993, while Europe have picked up four wins away from home in that span.

Keegan Bradley took some big swings with his decisions during the Ryder Cup, none bigger than putting Collin Morikawa and Harris English together for both foursomes sessions.

Bradley’s nerves were clear right from his opening speech, and there were moments throughout where he looked out of his depth as captain.

Edoardo Molinari didn’t hold back in criticising some of Bradley’s choices, and it’s clear he knows a lot went wrong at Bethpage.

Knost has put forward a theory about why the Americans have struggled so much in recent years – and it’s not something the PGA Tour will want to hear.

The PGA Tour likely to be unhappy with Colt Knost’s take on the Ryder Cup

There’s no question that things need to shift for the Americans if they’re going to break the trend in future Ryder Cups.

One of the suggestions that’s come up involves making big changes to the Presidents Cup, with some believing it could improve Team USA’s chances at turning things around in the Ryder Cup.

Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images

Knost was speaking on Trey Wingo’s podcast about why he thinks the United States has struggled at recent Ryder Cups, and his comments are likely to spark a lot of debate.

He said: “I have an opinion, or an idea, that I don’t think is going to be very popular with the PGA Tour, and it’s get rid of the Presidents Cup.

“The last time we won the cup on foreign soil was in ’93, and then all of a sudden this thing comes along. The Presidents Cup started in ’94. We’re four and 11 since it started.”

“In my opinion, it gives Europe a little bit of an idea of who we’re going to play together,” he added. “Also, I mean Internationals have a lot of great players but we dominate them every time.”

Is the Presidents Cup hurting US Ryder Cup chances?

The issue with the Presidents Cup is that it often leads to the same pairings being used over and over again.

Just because two players gelled well against weaker opposition, doesn’t mean they should be paired up again a year later on a completely different course.

As Knost pointed out, Scheffler’s partnership with Henley was a good example of this.

They played well together at Royal Montreal Golf Club in 2024, but Bethpage Black is a very different test. Henley’s lack of length off the tee made him an odd choice for that course.

And to make matters worse, Henley took the odd-numbered tee shots, despite data suggesting the shorter hitter should have been on the evens.

Europe had already seen them play together in Montreal. The US seemed to assume their success there would carry over to Bethpage. It didn’t.

Going forward, US captains need to treat the two events as separate challenges. If not, they may continue to repeat the same mistakes and stay stuck in this cycle of defeats for years to come.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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