With a record number of golfers in tight contention for the lead at this year’s PGA Championship, a playoff is very much in the cards.
Golf majors must always have a winner and the PGA Championship is no exception. Hosted this year at Aronimink Golf Course, the field has been tight from start to finish.
With the final golfers of the day winding down, there is even a chance to set a record for the largest playoff field. The PGA Tour record is six golfers in a playoff and the major record is three, per pga.com.
Here’s what the playoff format looks like at the 2026 PGA Championship.
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PGA Championship tiebreaker rules
The PGA Championship uses a three-hole playoff format should there be a tie atop the leaderboard after 72 holes.
This means that, should more than one player be tied for the lead after four rounds, one group forms to play each of the designated three holes. From there, golfers each play the three holes and if one player has a lower aggregate score, they are crowned the champion.
If none of the tied players come out ahead after this, then a sudden-death format begins, where the first golfer to earn the best score on a given hole will win the Wanamaker Trophy.
This number has decreased drastically from the 1960s, where tiebreakers would be 18 holes instead of three. Since then, no playoff has taken longer than three holes for the PGA Championship.
MORE: Every PGA Championship winner, prize money, records for over 100 years
Why does the PGA Championship use a three-hole aggregate format?
Each of the four golfing majors has its own unique playoff format. The Masters uses a sudden-death, one-hole playoff format, while the U.S. Open and Open Championship use two-hole and four-hole playoff formats, respectively.
The PGA Championship’s three-hole format allows it to stand out as unique among the other major events, though it has never revealed the exact reason for this playoff format.
MORE: PGA Championship 2026 purse breakdown, prize money for winning golfer
Do other majors use this playoff format?
No other majors use this distinct format. The Masters opts for a do-or-die one-hole format, while the Open Championship is the most forgiving for tied competitors.
| Major | Playoff holes |
| Masters | 1 |
| PGA Championship | 3 |
| U.S. Open | 2 |
| Open Championship | 4 |
Ties are not on the table, with one and only trophy to take home for one winner. As a result, every major event has a distinct tiebreaker format to ensure that a winner will emerge.
PGA Championship playoff history
After more than 100 PGA Championships, just 14 have needed a tiebreaker to determine the winner. Originally, it was settled with an 18-hole playoff, but now stands at just three holes.
Two of the most notable finishes came in 2000 and 2011. In 2000, Tiger Woods and Bob May tied for the highest 72-hole score in PGA Championship history, at 18-under par. May shot for par on all three holes, with a Tiger Woods birdie bringing him the victory in the three-hole playoff format.
In 2011 Keegan Bradley went on a dominant run late on the final day of the PGA Championship. After trailing by five strokes with three holes remaining, he made up the massive deficit and forced a tiebreaking playoff with Jason Dufner. In this playoff, Bradley grabbed a two-stroke lead after the first two holes and never looked back, closing out the victory. But it’s not all bad news for Dufner, who would return to win the same event two years later.
| Year | Winner | Holes |
| 1961 | Jerry Barber over Don January | 18 |
| 1967 | Don January over Don Massengale | 18 |
| 1972 | Lanny Wadkins over Gene Littler | 3 |
| 1978 | John Mahaffey over Jerry Pate and Tom Watson | 2 |
| 1979 | David Graham over Ben Crenshaw | 3 |
| 1987 | Larry Nelson over Lanny Wadkins | 1 |
| 1993 | Paul Azinger over Greg Norman | 2 |
| 1995 | Steve Elkington over Colin Montgomerie | 1 |
| 1996 | Mark Brooks over Kenny Perry | 1 |
| 2000 | Tiger Woods over Bob May | 3 |
| 2004 | Vijay Singh over Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard | 3 |
| 2010 | Martin Kaymer over Bubba Watson | 3 |
| 2011 | Keegan Bradley over Jason Dufner | 3 |
| 2022 | Justin Thomas over Will Zalatoris | 3 |
