What Is The PGA Championship Playoff Format?
How will the trophy be decided if there is a tie at the second Major of the year at Oak Hill?
The second Major of the year takes place at Oak Hill, with anticipation building as to who will succeed Justin Thomas as champion and get their hands on the famous Wanamaker Trophy.
Competition is fierce at Oak Hill, with Brooks Koepka and Viktor Hovland right in the hunt and big names like Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler and Justin Rose all going well too.
However, if two or more players are tied at the end of the 72 holes, it will require a playoff to separate them. But what does it entail?
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF FORMAT
All four Majors have different playoff formats, with The Masters featuring a sudden-death playoff, the US Open having a two-hole aggregate playoff and the Open a four-hole aggregate.
However, the PGA Championship employs a three-hole aggregate playoff. This means that every player who is tied at the top of the leaderboard after 72 holes at Oak Hill will play holes #14, #15, and #18.
If still tied, it will go to sudden-death on holes #18, #14, #15, #18, #14, #15, #18 repeated.
WHEN WAS THE LAST PGA CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF?
PGA Championship playoffs are relatively infrequent. In fact, there have been only 14 in the tournament since 1958 when it switched to the stroke play format.
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While they are rare, there was actually one last year when Justin Thomas and Will Zalatoris were tied after 72-holes at Southern Hills. Thomas outlasted his American counterpart over three holes to win his second Wanamaker Trophy.
That was the first PGA Championship playoff since 2011, when Keegan Bradley edged out Jason Dufner at Atlanta Athletic Club.
Others who have won the PGA Championship via the playoff route in recent times include Tiger Woods in 2000, Vijay Singh in 2004 and Martin Kaymer in 2010.
Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.
He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.
Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.
Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.
- Elliott HeathNews Editor
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