2026 PGA Championship playoff format, rules if Wanamaker Trophy goes to extra holes
NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA. — A traditionally bunched leaderboard at the 2026 PGA Championship is making for an exciting Sunday afternoon because the main jockey for place at Aronimink Golf Club, however it is usually creating severe potential for a tie on high after 72 holes.
That would ship the second main of the yr right into a playoff, which was final seen at a PGA Championship again in 2022 when Justin Thomas accomplished a seven-shot comeback to high Will Zalatoris to win his second Wanamaker Trophy at Southern Hills.
If nobody can separate themselves after 72 holes at Aronimink, the identical format will apply in 2026.
A PGA Championship playoff at Aronimink wouldn’t be held in sudden dying however fairly a three-hole mixture. Golfers would play No. 10, No. 17 and No. 18 — so as — with their whole rating throughout these holes figuring out the champion.
If that’s nonetheless not sufficient to decide a winner, the playoff combatants would play the 18th gap repeatedly in a sudden-death format till a winner is topped.
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The PGA Championship modified from an instantaneous sudden-death playoff to a three-hole mixture format in 2000 when Tiger Woods beat Bob May at Valhalla.
What makes this yr so fascinating isn’t just the potential for a playoff, but additionally the potential for it that includes a number of gamers. There have solely been two PGA Championships with a playoff that featured greater than two gamers — 1978 and 2004 — and if we get greater than three, it could be a PGA Championship document.
No matter what number of gamers qualify for the playoff, they’d all play in the identical group — which means, even if seven golfers are tied for the lead, they’d all play one after one other in the identical grouping.
As Sunday afternoon wears on, whether or not a playoff shall be essential ought to crystallize. If so, the event will lengthen to not less than 75 holes so as to decide a winner.
Sunset is scheduled for 8:12 pm ET exterior Philadelphia, which shall be notable for any potential playoff, because the PGA of America would have to decide whether or not the event might end in time. If not, returning Monday to crown a champion would grow to be a chance.
