If a playoff is needed Sunday to determine the winner of the PGA Championship, the PGA of America employs a three-hole aggregate session.
In this format, if two or more players are tied after 72 holes of regulation, they will compete over three additional holes with the player producing the lowest total score winning. If players are still tied, sudden death is implemented.
At this year’s venue, Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, the aggregate holes are, in order: par-4 16th, par-3 17th, par-4 18th. They will repeat that order for sudden death.
This format (previously just sudden death) was first used at Valhalla in 2000, when Tiger Woods defeated Bob May.
There have been 13 playoffs since the the PGA Championship became a stroke-play event in 1958. Here’s a look at the instances when the current format was needed to hand out the Wanamaker Trophy (there hasn’t yet been a sudden-death playoff following the three-hole aggregate):
- 2022: Justin Thomas def. Will Zalatoris, Southern Hills CC
- 2011: Keegan Bradley def. Jason Dufner, Atlanta Athletic Club
- 2010: Martin Kaymer def. Bubba Watson, Whistling Straits
- 2004: Vijay Singh def. Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard, Whistling Straits
- 2000: Tiger Woods def. Bob May, Valhalla Golf Club
As for the other men’s major playoff formats, the Masters uses sudden death, the U.S. Open a two-hole aggregate and The Open a four-hole aggregate.
