Best Score for First 3 Rounds of PGA Championship
What is the PGA Championship's tournament record for best total score following the first three rounds? Only a handful of golfers have played the first three rounds in fewer than 200 strokes. And the PGA Championship record for 54-hole score is 196.
That score of 196 was set by David Toms in 2001. Toms went on to win that PGA Championship for his only victory in a major championship.
Lowest Scores After 54 Holes in PGA Championship
- 196 — David Toms, 2001 PGA Championship. Toms' lead was only two over another guy who appears below, but he went on to win the tournament. His scores for those first three rounds were 66-65-65, which was 14-under par at Atlanta Athletic Club.
- 197 — Ernie Els, 1995 PGA Championship. Els' 197 was the record-low score for the first 54-holes until Toms lowered the mark. Els scored 66-65-66 (16-under) at Riviera Country Club. He led by three, but wound up tying for third place, two strokes out of a playoff.
- 198 — Phil Mickelson, 2001 PGA Championship. Mickelson had the misfortune in 2001 of going very low in the same PGA Championship in which Toms was breaking all kinds of scoring records (not just this one). Mickelson scored 66-66-66 (12-under) over the first three rounds, and finished second, one stroke behind Toms.
- 198 — Brooks Koepka, 2018 PGA Championship. Koepka's scores for the first three rounds were 69-63-66 (12-under) at Bellerive Country Club. That gave him a two-stroke lead over Adam Scott after 54 holes, which he converted into a two stroke victory over Tiger Woods.
- 198 — Brooks Koepka, 2019 PGA Championship. For the second year in a row, Koepka was at 12-under 198 after the opening 54 holes, and for the second year running he won the Wanamaker Trophy. His scores over the first three rounds on the Black Course at Bethpage were 63, 65 and 70.
- 198 — Xander Schauffele, 2024 PGA Championship. In the first round at Valhalla Golf Club, Schauffele became the first golfer to score 62 in the PGA Championship. The he tacked on 68s in both the second and third rounds for the 15-under total of 198. Schauffele was tied with the next golfer on the list after three rounds, but won by a stroke.
- 198 — Collin Morikawa, 2024 PGA Championship. Scored 66-65-67 (15-under) over the first three rounds, matching Schauffele, but finished in a tie for fourth.
- 199 — Jimmy Walker, 2016 PGA Championship. At Baltusrol Golf Club, Walker opened the 2016 PGA with rounds of 65-66-68 (11-under). He led by just a stroke at that point, and wound up winning by the same margin.
- 199 — Sahith Theegala, 2024 PGA Championship. The third golfer on the list from the 2024 PGA, Theegala's first three rounds went 65-67-67 (14-under). He was in third place after 54 holes, but finished tied for 12th.
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