Who Has Lost The Most Play-Offs In The History Of Professional Golf?

Ben Crenshaw tees off shot from behind — (Image credit: Getty Images)

The player in professional golf to have the most play-off defeats is Kathy Whitworth.

A six-time Major winner, she won 88 LPGA tournaments between 1962 and 1985, and was runner up 93 times. Eight of her victories came via a play-off. But she was also defeated 20 times in a play-off. Her record in head-to-head play-offs stands at won 8, lost 14; but she lost all six of her three-way play-offs.

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In men’s professional golf, the most play-off defeats is by Ben Hogan. He lost 12 of his 20 play-offs, including three out of four in Majors. He won nine Majors, including the 1950 US Open, where he shot 69 to overcome Lloyd Mangrum (73) and George Fazio (75) in play-off.

All of Hogan’s play-offs were played over 18 holes, so he spent a long time playing-off. He even once had to wait a week to contest a play-off, only to lose it. That was at the 1950 Los Angeles Open, after rain and another tournament had delayed it.

Hogan thus has the presumed record for most play-off holes played across a career. But others have contested more play-offs – as well as Whitworth, there is Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, who both took part in 24 play-offs on the PGA Tour.

Worst percentages

All the worst, in terms of numbers, of course also won several play-offs. Hogan has a 40% win record, Whitworth 28.5%. But two-time Major champion Ben Crenshaw lost all eight of his play-offs, including at the 1979 US PGA Championship, which he lost to a David Graham birdie on the third extra hole.

Greg Norman won two Majors, The Open Championships of 1986 and 1993, but lost all four of his play-offs in Majors, one in each Major. In this, he equalled Craig Wood, who had also lost a play-off in all four of the Majors between 1933 and 1939. Wood eventually won two Majors in 1941: the Masters and US Open.

Contributing Writer Roderick is the author of the critically acclaimed comic golf novels, Summer At Tangents, which was one of Country Life magazine's Books of The Year for 2024 and nominated for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction, and Crime Wave At Tangents. Golf courses and travel are Roderick’s particular interests. He writes travel articles and general features for the magazine and website and compiles the magazine's crossword. He is a member of Trevose and has played golf in around two dozen countries. Cricket is his other main sporting love. He is also the author of five non-fiction books, four of which are still in print: The Novel Life of PG Wodehouse; The Don: Beyond Boundaries; Wally Hammond: Gentleman & Player and England’s Greatest Post-War All Rounder.