PGA Championship Playoff Format Explained: What Happens If There's A Tie

The PGA Championship is a tricky tournament. It has to be, given it's one of the Majors, and it's not unthinkable that it'll go right down to the wire this year.

The setup at Aronimink has proven very challenging indeed for some of the world's best golfers. Scottie Scheffler struggled with pin positions, and even Rory McIlroy had had to fight to make the cut.

It's not been the lowest-scoring tournament so far, and the margins over the weekend have only got tighter to create an incredibly bunched leaderboard.

So, will a playoff be needed to crown the latest Major champion?

The rules for playoffs vary from tournament to tournament, so let's take a look at how a playoff works in the PGA Championship.

PGA Championship playoff format

It's pretty simple, really. If there is a tie after 72 holes at Aronimink, a three-hole aggregate score playoff will commence.

Interestingly, while a lot of championships use the final three holes for playoffs, this year's PGA Championship will utilize holes 10, 17, and 18.

If things are still level after those three holes, a sudden-death playoff on No. 18 will occur until a winner is found.

The par-4 10th is full of hazards, with two fairway bunkers and a pond situated at the front left of the green. Hole 17 may be a par-3, but it's 229-yards long and also has a pond. The 490-yard 18th is daunting, too, with three bunkers down the right side of the fairway and an elevated green.

The three-hole format has been used for some time now, and we've seen five playoffs in the 21st century.

Most recently, Justin Thomas prevailed in a playoff win over Will Zalatoris in 2022. Thomas had clawed back a seven-shot deficit at the start of the final day to tie the lead after 72 holes, marking the joint-biggest comeback in PGA Championship history.

You have to go back to 2011 for the last playoff before that, when Keegan Bradley defeated Jason Dufner by one stroke over the three holes. Bradley was a rookie at the time, and was one of only three players ever to have emerged victorious at their first-ever Major.

Martin Kaymer's win over Bubba Watson in 2010 saw an extended playoff occur. Watson missed a putt everyone had expected him to make, and the German took advantage with a birdie on the first extra hole.

A three-way playoff in 2004 saw Vijay Singh lift the Wanamaker Trophy after seeing off both Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard.

Then, in 2000, Tiger Woods beat Bob May. That was Woods' second straight PGA Championship win, but he had to do it the hard way after both he and May set the PGA Championship record to par at 18-under.

Prior to this, the PGA Championship used a full 18-hole playoff on two occasions (in 1961 and 1968) before moving to a sudden death format through the 1970s, '80s and '90s.