The Highest Winning Scores This Century At The PGA Championship

Padraig Harrington en route to winning the PGA Championship in 2008 — (Image credit: Getty Images)

It seems that all it takes is a few big drives during practice, and everyone is quick to make up their mind what kind of test a Major Championship course will provide.

And when Rory McIlroy said "strategy off the tee is pretty non-existent" at the start of the week, many people thought the Donald Ross-designed Aronimink would be a pushover.

The early signs are that we won't get to a double-digit winning score, which is more the norm from week to week.

We've seen some very low scores in the PGA Championship over the years. Xander Schauffele carded a 21-under 263 at Valhalla two years ago to set a Major Championship record.

Brooks Koepka had shared that particular record having taken just 264 shots to win the same tournament at Bellerive Country Club in 2018.

However, we've also seen some big winning scores registered in the battle for the famous Wanamaker Trophy - and that's the type of tournament that a lot of golf fans prefer to see.

The biggest winning scores? Let's take a look...

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Highest Scores At The PGA Championship (2001-present)
Year/Venue	Winner	Total Winning Score
2008, Oakland Hills Country Club	Padraig Harrington	277 (-3)
2005, Baltusrol	Phil Mickelson	276 (-4)
2003, Oak Hill Country Club	Shaun Micheel	276 (-4)
2022, Southern Hills Country Club	Justin Thomas	275 (-5)

The highest winning total score since the turn of the century belongs to Padraig Harrington, who, in 2008, broke a 78-year European jinx in claiming the 90th PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.

The Irishman showed his mettle in holding off Sergio Garcia to claim back-to-back Majors at a brutal venue, and it was also his third Major title in six attempts.

However, if you go back a little further, higher scores have won the PGA Championship.

The 1987 PGA Championship — Larry Nelson kept his cool on a baking hot final day of the 1987 PGA Championship

The 1987 edition was an absolute scorcher, with the heat index registering 105, making the greens at the Champion course of PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach, Florida, as hard as tabletops.

And it was windy. Combined with the brutally long rough, it was more of a war of attrition. Larry Nelson didn't mind, though, and his one-under-par (287) total was good enough for the win.

Go back even further, to 1987, Dave Stockton's one-over total (281) saw him defeat Raymond Floyd by one shot at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.

One over par has won the PGA Championship on three other occasions: Gary Player (1972), Julius Boros (1968), and Jay Herbert (1960).

PGA Championship winning scores since 2001

2025: Scottie Scheffler -11 (Quail Hollow)
2024: Xander Schauffele -21 (Valhalla)
2023: Brooks Koepka -9 (Oak Hill)
2022: Justin Thomas -5 (Southern Hills)
2021: Phil Mickelson -6 (Kiawah Island)
2020: Collin Morikawa -13 (TPC Harding Park)
2019: Brooks Koepka -8 (Bethpage Black)
2018: Brooks Koepka -16 (Bellerive)
2017: Justin Thomas -8 (Quail Hollow)
2016: Jimmy Walker -14 (Baltusrol)
2015: Jason Day -20 (Whistling Straits)
2014: Rory McIlroy -16 (Valhalla)
2013: Jason Dufner -10 (Oak Hill)
2012: Rory McIlroy -13 (Kiawah Island)
2011: Keegan Bradley -8 (Atlanta Athletic Club)
2010: Martin Kaymer -11 (Whistling Straits)
2009: YE Yang -8 (Hazeltine)
2008: Padraig Harrington -3 (Oakland Hills)
2007: Tiger Woods -8 (Southern Hills)
2006: Tiger Woods -18 (Medinah)
2005: Phil Mickelson -4 (Baltusrol)
2004: Vijay Singh -8 (Whistling Straits)
2003: Shaun Micheel -4 (Oak Hill)
2002: Rich Beem -10 (Hazeltine)
2001: David Toms -15 (Atlanta Athletic Club)

Michael has been with Golf Monthly since 2008. A multimedia journalist, he has also worked for The Football Association, where he created content to support the England football team, The FA Cup, London 2012, and the FA Women's Super League. As content editor at Foremost Golf, Michael worked closely with golf's biggest equipment manufacturers and has developed an in-depth knowledge of this side of the industry. He's a regular contributor, covering instruction, equipment, travel and feature content. Michael has interviewed many of the game's biggest stars, including seven World No.1s, and has attended and reported on numerous Major Championships and Ryder Cups around the world. He's a member of Formby Golf Club in Merseyside, UK.