72-Hole Scoring Record at the PGA Championship

What are the lowest stroke totals in PGA Championship history? The best final score yet posted is 264, and it happened very recently. That lowered the previous record, which had been established in 2001, by one stroke.

Let's take a closer look at the record-holders for best 72-hole scores in this major championship of men's golf.

The List: Lowest Final Scores in PGA Championship

These are the lowest 72-hole stroke totals in tournament history thus far:
  • 264 — Brooks Koepka (69-63-66-66) in 2018 at Bellerive Country Club
  • 265 — David Toms (66-65-65-69) in 2001 at Atlanta Athletic Club
  • 266 — Phil Mickelson (66-66-66-68) in 2001 at Atlanta Athletic Club
  • 266 — Jimmy Walker (65-66-68-67) in 2016 at Baltusrol Golf Club
  • 266 — Tiger Woods (70-66-66-64) in 2018 at Bellerive Country Club
  • 267 — Steve Elkington (68-67-68-64) in 1995 at Riviera Country Club
  • 267 — Colin Montgomerie (68-67-67-65) in 1995 at Riviera Country Club
  • 267 — Jason Day (68-65-67-67) in 2016 at Baltusrol Golf Club
  • 267 — Adam Scott (70-65-65-67) in 2018 at Bellerive Country Club
  • 267 — Collin Morikawa (69-69-65-64) in 2020 at Harding Park Golf Course
The most under-par anyone on the above list finished was 17-under by Elkington and Montgomerie. (But 17-under is not the record most strokes under par in the PGA — see our PGA Championship Scoring Records article for that record and a few more.)

Also note that five of the nine golfers who appear on the list above were non-winners: Mickelson in 2001, Woods in 2018, Montgomerie in 1995, Day in 1997 and Scott in 2018.

You'll also notice that the earliest date for any golfer on the above list is the 1995 PGA Championship where Elkington and Montgomerie established the then-new record of 267. The record they broke was 269, which Nick Price had recorded in the 1994 PGA Championship.

Evolution of PGA Championship's Lowest Winning Score Record

The PGA Championship used a match play format prior to 1958, so only since the 1958 PGA Championship has stroke play been used in this major. Here is how the tournament record for lowest winning score has evolved since then:
  • 276 — Dow Finsterwald, 1958, Llanerch Country Club
  • 271 — Bobby Nichols, 1964, Columbus Country Club
  • 269 — Nick Price, 1994, Southern Hills Country Club
  • 267 — Steve Elkington, 1995, Riviera Country Club
  • 265 — David Toms, 2001, Atlanta Athletic Club
  • 264 — Brooks Koepka, 2018, Bellerive Country Club

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