Biggest Final-Round Comebacks to Win PGA Championship

Winning a major by any means is great ... but winning one by staging a big, final-round comeback must be particularly fantastic. And that's what the golfers listed below did: These are the largest, final-round comebacks to win in the history of the PGA Championship.

The PGA Championship, one of the four majors of men's professional golf, dates to 1916. But through 1957 it was a match-play tournament. From 1958 forward, it has used a stroke-play format. So all of the comeback wins discussed here are, obviously, from the stroke-play era.

The Record: 7-Stroke Come-from-Behind Wins

Two golfers share the PGA Championship record for biggest comebacks after 54 holes to win. John Mahaffey in the 1978 PGA Championship and Justin Thomas in the 2022 PGA Championship each was seven strokes off the lead when their respective final rounds started. And each went on to victory.

Mahaffey established the record when, in 1978, he ended the third round in fifth place. At 210, he was seven strokes behind the third-round leader, Tom Watson. But in the final round, Mahaffey scored 66, Watson 73, and Jerry Pate joined them at 276 for a three-man, sudden-death playoff. Mahaffey won the playoff with a birdie on the second extra hole.

In 2022, Thomas was tied for seventh when the final round teed off, with Mito Pereira in the lead at 201. But Pereira scored 75 in Round 4 and finished tied for third. Thomas shot 67 to tie Will Zalatoris at 275. So, like Mahaffey, Thomas went into a playoff, but a three-hole, aggregate-score playoff. And Thomas beat Zalatoris in that playoff by two strokes to win the Wanamaker Trophy.

The List: Largest Comebacks After 54 Holes in PGA Championship

7 strokes — John Mahaffey, 1978 (began final round in fifth place)
7 strokes — Justin Thomas, 2022 (began final round tied for seventh)
6 strokes — Bob Rosburg, 1959 (began final round tied for sixth)
6 strokes — Lanny Wadkins, 1977 (began final round tied for fourth)
6 strokes — Payne Stewart, 1989 (began final round tied for 11th)
6 strokes — Steve Elkington, 1995 (began final round tied for fifth)

You'll notice that despite the fact all of these PGA Championship winners began the final round many strokes behind the leader, in most cases they weren't behind very many players. Only Stewart in the 1989 PGA Championship started the final round outside the Top 10.

Here are a few other records for come-from-behind wins in the PGA:

Largest deficit after 18 holes for the eventual winner: 8 strokes. Mahaffey in 1978, Payne Stewart in 1989 and Keegan Bradley in 2011 all trailed by eight strokes after the first round but went on to win.

Largest deficit after 36 holes for the eventual winner: 9 strokes. Bob Rosburg in 1959 and Bob Tway in 1986 each trailed by nine shots after two rounds and went on to win.

What about the match-play era? Prior to 1958, the PGA Championship used a match-play format. And the greatest come-from-behind win in any match from that era happened in a first-round match in the 1932 PGA. In a match scheduled for 36 holes, Bobby Cruickshank was 9-down with 12 holes to play to Al Watrous. But Cruickshank wound up squaring the match by the 36th hole, then winning it on the 41st hole.

Related articles:

Sources:
PGA of America. PGA Championship Media Guide, "PGA Championship Player Records," Largest Comebacks By Winner After 54 Holes.

Search Golf Compendium

Golf Compendium