Colt Knost never won a PGA Tour event. That fact still catches new golf fans off guard every time Jim Nantz throws it to him in the CBS Super Tower. Knost made 199 tour starts across 13 years, and his best finish was a tie for third.
He walked away in 2020 with $4.33 million in career earnings and zero trophies to show for it, and somehow that’s not even the most interesting part of his story anymore. Broadcasting made him more recognizable than half the guys who beat him on Sundays, and this guide covers every piece of that story, from his amateur record to the text message that made him internet-famous in April 2026.
Who Is Colt Knost?
Knost grew up in Pilot Point, Texas, after being born in Garrettsville, Ohio, on June 26, 1985. He played college golf at SMU, where he picked up all-conference honors and the 2004 Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year award. None of that prepared people for what he did in 2007.
That summer, Knost won the U.S. Amateur Public Links in July and the U.S. Amateur in August, then helped the United States win the Walker Cup in September. Only two other golfers in history have won three USGA events in a single year: Bobby Jones in 1930 and Jay Sigel in 1983. Knost also picked up the inaugural Mark H. McCormack Medal for finishing atop the World Amateur Golf Ranking, and he held the No. 1 amateur spot for five weeks before turning pro that fall.
He gave up his Masters invitation to do it. Winning the U.S. Amateur earns a spot in the following year’s Masters, and Knost forfeited that exemption, along with invites to the U.S. Open and Open Championship, when he turned professional in the fall of 2007.
Did Colt Knost Ever Win on the PGA Tour?
No. Colt Knost made 199 PGA Tour starts between 2007 and 2020 and never won. His best finish was a tie for third at the 2016 Players Championship, where he made every green in regulation over 36 holes and shot a second-round 63.
His only professional wins came earlier, both on what was then the Nationwide Tour. He won the Fort Smith Classic by one stroke in May 2008 and the Price Cutter Charity Championship by four strokes two months later, and those two victories punched his ticket to the PGA Tour for 2009.
| Category | Total | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| PGA Tour starts | 199 | 2007 to 2020 |
| PGA Tour wins | 0 | Best finish: T3, 2016 Players Championship |
| PGA Tour cuts made | 92 | Roughly a 46% cut rate |
| Career PGA Tour earnings | $4,330,438 | Per official PGA Tour records |
| Korn Ferry (Nationwide) Tour wins | 2 | Fort Smith Classic, Price Cutter Championship (2008) |
| Highest world ranking | No. 92 | Reached July 3, 2016 |
That “Detail” column matters more than the raw numbers. A guy can make 199 starts and never lift a trophy and still have a career worth remembering, and Knost’s is a good example of how much a single week can define a player’s legacy even without a win attached.
Why Did Colt Knost Stop Playing Golf?
A wrist injury ended it, not a decision to walk away on his own terms. Knost had the best stretch of his career in the spring of 2016, capped by that T3 at The Players, and then his wrist gave out shortly after. He had surgery, came back too early by his own admission, and never found that form again.
Between 2018 and his retirement in February 2020, Knost missed 13 of 18 cuts. He played his final event on a major medical extension at his hometown Waste Management Phoenix Open, needing a win just to keep his card. And shot 70-72 and missed the cut by a single shot.
He told Golf Channel afterward that the game had simply changed too much around him, pointing to how much farther the new generation of pros hit it compared to him. He’d already lined up broadcasting work with CBS and a SiriusXM radio show, so the landing was softer than most retirements. Still, it’s a rough way to end a career that started with a No. 1 amateur ranking.
Colt Knost’s Height and Playing Nickname
Knost stands 5-foot-9 and played his career around 215 pounds, according to his PGA Tour bio. He’s not a bomber, and he was never going to out-drive the taller players who started dominating the tour in the 2010s. That’s part of what makes his 2016 Players run so specific. He shot 63 by hitting every green, not by overpowering the course.
On tour, players called him “The Big Gravy.” The nickname followed him into broadcasting, where it became the name of his first SiriusXM show, “Gravy and the Sleeze,” co-hosted with his college-golf buddy Drew Stoltz.
Broadcasting Career: CBS Sports and the Super Tower
Knost joined CBS Sports as a part-time on-course reporter in 2019, the same year he wrapped his playing career. He went full-time in 2021, then moved into a regular analyst role for PGA Tour broadcasts starting in January 2022, working featured groups at that year’s Masters.
His biggest promotion came in December 2025. CBS moved Knost off the course entirely and into the Super Tower, the network’s lead booth, alongside play-by-play voice Jim Nantz, lead analyst Trevor Immelman, and fellow analyst Frank Nobilo. He’s replacing Ian Baker-Finch, the 1991 Open champion who retired from broadcasting after 19 years at CBS. Knost made his Super Tower debut at the Farmers Insurance Open on January 31, 2026.
CBS executive Harold Bryant credited Knost’s “insight, energy and his engaging personality” for the move, and that’s the honest read on why he’s popular. He doesn’t sound like a stat sheet. He comes across like a guy who just got off the range with you, which is exactly the reputation he built as an on-course reporter, where his rapport with players stood out more than his technical breakdowns. That informal style is also the answer if you’re searching for “Colt Knost voice.” It’s not a booming, traditional broadcast voice. It’s conversational, a little sarcastic, and it fits a golf audience that grew up on podcasts instead of Sunday-only network TV.
The CBS gig isn’t his only broadcasting credit. He also called Prime Video’s Skins Game on Black Friday in 2025 alongside Andrew Catalon and Dan Rapaport, and he still shows up regularly on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio for live tournament coverage.
The Kevin Kisner Text Message That Went Viral
In April 2026, right after Rory McIlroy won the Masters, Kevin Kisner ripped into CBS’s broadcast on Barstool’s Fore Play podcast. Kisner, now an NBC analyst, complained that CBS kept airing tape-delayed shots without telling viewers, and he admitted he’d texted Knost during the broadcast to ask if the network ever showed anything live.
The clip went viral fast, partly because network golf analysts almost never criticize each other in public like that. Kisner walked it back two days later on the same podcast, saying he’d “crossed the line” and apologizing to the CBS golf team. Kisner and Knost are friends from their playing days, and that friendship is exactly why Kisner texted him mid-broadcast instead of just tweeting about it. The whole exchange is a good snapshot of how small the golf-media world actually is.
Podcast: Inside Subpar with Drew Stoltz
Knost’s radio career actually started before his TV career. He and Drew Stoltz, a fellow Dallas-area amateur standout who played at TCU, launched “Gravy and the Sleeze” on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio the week of the 2019 Masters.
“Subpar” came next, launching in February 2020 as a video podcast for GOLF.com. The show pulls in roughly 335,000 downloads a month and has topped 3.6 million lifetime downloads. Knost and Stoltz build each episode around long, unscripted conversations with tour pros and the occasional non-golf guest, and former NHL player Mike Commodore is apparently the guest fans ask Knost about the most.
The two shows aren’t the same thing, which trips people up. “Gravy and the Sleeze” is the daily SiriusXM radio format. “Subpar” is the weekly interview podcast. Knost and Stoltz host both.
Meet His Wife, Natalie Johns
Yes, Colt Knost is married. He and Natalie Johns tied the knot on November 19, 2022, in an outdoor ceremony in Scottsdale, Arizona. The two met in February 2018 through mutual friends and now live in Dallas, Texas.
That’s about as far as the public record goes, and honestly, that’s appropriate. Knost keeps his marriage mostly off the podcast and out of the broadcast booth, which is a deliberate choice worth respecting rather than digging past.
Net Worth: What’s Actually Verified
Search “Colt Knost net worth” and you’ll find numbers ranging from $5 million to $10 million, and none of them cite a real source. Several of those sites can’t even agree on his birthday or his height, and one credits him with a PGA Tour win at the 2010 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open that never happened. Treat every one of those figures as a guess, because that’s what it is.
Here’s what’s actually documented: Knost earned $4,330,438 on the PGA Tour across his career, a number that comes straight from PGA Tour records. That doesn’t count his Korn Ferry Tour money, his broadcasting salary, endorsement deals, or anything he’s made since retiring, and none of those figures are public. He hasn’t confirmed a net worth number himself, and neither CBS nor GOLF.com has published one. Anyone giving you an exact figure is making it up.
Salary at CBS Sports
Undisclosed, and it’s going to stay that way. Network broadcasters almost never make their salaries public, and CBS hasn’t broken that pattern for Knost even with his 2026 promotion to the Super Tower. If you see a specific number next to his name, it’s a guess dressed up as a fact, the same problem that plagues the net worth searches above.
What Was in Colt Knost’s Bag?
Here’s his tour bag from the 2016 Players Championship, the week that defined his career, according to equipment site GolfWRX.
| Club | Model | Loft/Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Callaway Great Big Bertha | 8.5 degrees |
| 3-wood | Callaway XR Pro | 14 degrees |
| 5-wood | Callaway XR Pro | 18 degrees |
| Hybrid | Callaway Apex Hybrid | 23 degrees |
| Irons | Callaway Apex Pro (5-PW) | KBS Tour 120S shafts |
| Wedges | Callaway Mack Daddy 2 / Mack Daddy 3 | 50, 52, 60 degrees |
| Putter | Odyssey Works #7 | Standard specs |
Nothing exotic in that setup. It’s a standard tour bag for a player who scored with his irons and short game rather than raw distance, which lines up with how he actually made his money that week: leading the field in greens hit, not driving distance.
If you’re searching Colt Knost golf swing hoping for a swing breakdown, you won’t find one here or really anywhere else. Golf instruction sites don’t treat him as a technical swing reference the way they do someone like Rory McIlroy. Most of that search traffic is really people curious about the broadcaster, not students of his mechanics, and that’s a fair thing to search for given how often he’s on camera now.
Where to Follow Colt Knost
Knost posts regularly on both platforms. Find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @ColtKnost and on Instagram at @coltknost, where he mixes golf content with clips from Subpar and his broadcasting travel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Colt Knost ever win on the PGA Tour?
No. He made 199 starts and never won, though he did win twice on the Nationwide Tour in 2008. His best PGA Tour finish was a tie for third at the 2016 Players Championship.
Why did Colt Knost stop playing golf?
A wrist injury derailed his career after his best season in 2016. He missed the cut in his final start at the 2020 Waste Management Phoenix Open and retired immediately after.
What happened to Colt Knost?
He retired from professional golf in February 2020 and moved into broadcasting full-time, joining CBS Sports and building the Subpar podcast with Drew Stoltz. CBS promoted him to the lead Super Tower booth for the 2026 season.
Is Colt Knost married?
Yes. He married Natalie Johns on November 19, 2022, in Scottsdale, Arizona.
How tall is Colt Knost?
He’s 5-foot-9, per his official PGA Tour bio.
What is Colt Knost’s net worth?
No verified figure exists. His career PGA Tour earnings were $4,330,438, but he’s never disclosed a full net worth number, and neither has CBS or GOLF.com.
What podcast does Colt Knost host?
He co-hosts “Subpar” with Drew Stoltz for GOLF.com, along with the SiriusXM radio show “Gravy and the Sleeze.”
Who does Colt Knost work for now?
CBS Sports, where he’s an analyst in the Super Tower booth alongside Jim Nantz, Trevor Immelman, and Frank Nobilo, starting with the 2026 season.
The Bottom Line
Knost’s playing career reads like a what-if. The best amateur summer anyone’s had in decades, a Masters exemption he never used, and 199 tour starts that never produced a win. But the broadcasting career is the real story now, and it didn’t happen by accident. CBS didn’t promote him to the Super Tower because he’s a great player.
They promoted him because he’s good on camera, and the Kevin Kisner texting saga in April 2026 proved just how plugged into the current tour he still is. For a guy whose golf career ended on a missed cut by one shot, that’s not a bad second act at all.