Eight-time PGA Tour winner Billy Horschel is playing 2025 Utah Bank Championship this week. There, the veteran pro, who won the 2014 FedEx Cup title, hopes to improve his FedEx Cup standing after a disappointing season on the course. But before the first round at Black Desert Resort, Horschel had a different golf event on his mind: Ryder Cup.
And live on TV, he suggested a big change to the Ryder Cup that would prove controversial: for the PGA Tour to take over the American team.
Who runs the Ryder Cup? PGA of America vs. PGA Tour
Since the inception of the Ryder Cup, the PGA of America has controlled the American side of the event. And because it’s so confusing, it’s worth remembering PGA of America IS NO THE PGA Tour.
The PGA Tour, which spun off from the PGA of America in the 1960s, is where your favorite pros play most of the time, operating over 40 tournaments each year, including the flagship Players Championship. (They also own and operate the PGA Tour Champions, Korn Ferry and PGA Tour Americas, among others.)
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Kevin Cunningham
The PGA of America is primarily a teaching organization, with thousands of certified PGA teaching professionals spread across the country. But most importantly, the PGA of America also runs the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup for Americans.
In contrast, the European Ryder Cup team is run by the DP World Tour, the PGA Tour’s European counterpart. This has given the European team distinct advantages in the Ryder Cup. The same staff, coaches and organizational leaders who work with European players throughout the year also work with them at the Ryder Cup.
This consistency differs from the USA Ryder Cup team. Given that the PGA of America is not involved with American players year-round on the PGA Tour, the organization does not have the same familiarity with US players as the DP World Tour does with Europeans.
He’s not alone, but Horschel sees this as a big problem for the American team.
Billy Horschel says the PGA Tour should ‘manage’ the US Ryder Cup team
Horschel has never played in a Ryder Cup, but he was part of the winning U.S. team in the 2022 Presidents Cup, which IS run by the PGA Tour. He also plays regularly on the DP World Tour, so he has some credibility on the subject.
Wednesday, Horschel joined the Golf Channel’s “Golf Today” showand when prompted by co-host Damon Hack, the veteran pro offered his own controversial solution to the US Ryder Cup team’s woes.
Horschel suggested that the European team’s dominance of the Ryder Cup in recent years is partly due to their DP World Tour advantages. And he revealed he has spoken to other players and “bigger names” who agree.
“I’ve had some conversations with some people, some other players, players who are bigger names and have been a part of Ryder Cups, after this Ryder Cup, and the thing I’ve shared with them is that over the last five or six years being on the European Tour, realizing that the European Tour runs their Ryder Cup, so they see these people, they told the room staff when they play the Ryder Cup, they they can talk about the Ryder Cup.” Channel.
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Michael Bamberger
He continued with some specific examples: “Even if it’s a few years in advance, in their mind about hotels or anything you know how to improve things. They have that ability to talk to these people that they have a relationship with on a regular basis.”
And then Horschel gave up his controversial stance.
“In my opinion, we don’t have that with the PGA of America,” he said. “They come in and do a great job. I’m not going to say they don’t do a good job.”
To fix this problem, Horschel sees a simple solution. Let the PGA Tour take over the USA Ryder Cup team.
“I believe it’s time the PGA Tour, or people we trust, should take over Team USA. They should run Team USA,” Horschel said.
Horschel said he envisions a complicated future partnership where the PGA of America still owns and operates the Ryder Cup, but the PGA Tour runs the American team.
“The PGA of America can still run the Ryder Cup, they can still sell all the corporate stuff, but I think we need to take more ownership of our team and have people there that work at that Ryder Cup every year and are out on our tours that we can have a relationship with and talk about things so we don’t lose things and things don’t slip,” Horchels said.
With theirs 15-13 loss at Bethpage Black In the past month, the American team has now lost six of the last eight and nine of the last 12 Ryder Cups.
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