Golf Compendium

The U.S. Women's Open used an 18-hole playoff format for much of its history, but not too many years ago switched to an aggregate-score format (total score over a smaller number of holes). In this article, we list every playoff in the tournament's history, the playoff participants, and their scores.

Scottie Scheffler's record on the PGA Tour, beginning in the early 2020s, was extraordinary. But what about his record in playoffs? With the sudden-death format, great golfers don't necessarily have great playoff records. So let's find out what Scheffler's record looks like.

The list of winners at The Players Championship goes back to the 1970s. How many times in that span has the so-called " fifth major " ended with a playoff? And what is the playoff format for this tournament?

How many playoffs has Rory McIlroy played in pro golf tournaments, and what is his win-loss record in those playoffs? Is he good at playoffs, or not so much? Those are the questions we are answering here.

If the Women's PGA Championship reaches the end of 72 holes with two or more golfers tied, what happens? The playoff format at this tournament is sudden death.

What is the largest playoff that has ever taken place on the LPGA Tour? That is, the most golfers who participated in a playoff at one of the tour's official events?

The U.S. Senior Open, the biggest tournament in men's 50-and-over professional golf, was first played in 1980. Since that time, seven tournaments have ended with a playoff.

What is the longest playoff in the history of professional tournament golf? When golf fans talk about playoffs, we are mostly thinking of sudden-death playoffs. And the longest "sudden"-death playoff on any of the world's top golf tourns lasted a whopping 14 holes.

Which golfer holds the record for most wins via playoff in PGA Tour history? Two golfers share that record, they were friends and rivals, and they were two of the greatest golfers in tour history.

What is the highest number of playoffs one golfer has played on the PGA Tour in a single season? The answer is four, and two Hall of Famers share that record. And in both cases, the two record-holders each played in one sudden-death playoff, but three 18-hole playoffs.

What is the largest number of golfers ever to take part in a playoff at a PGA Tour tournament? The record is six golfers — a 6-man playoff has happened three times in PGA Tour history. Surprisingly, none of those three, 6-player, sudden-death playoffs lasted more than two holes.

Today, all PGA Tour playoffs (except majors and The Players Championship) use the sudden-death format . But once upon a time, 18-hole playoffs were the standard. The last 18-hole playoff of any kind on the PGA Tour was in a major championship, but what about at non-major tour events? What was the last 18-hole playoff at a non-major?

Do you know what the playoff format is on the PGA Tour? We're talking about "regular" PGA Tour tournaments, the non-majors and non-special events. Putting those majors/specials aside, the playoff format at all other PGA Tour tournaments is sudden death.

What happens if the U.S. Women's Open is tied at the end of the final round? We have a playoff. And what form does that playoff take?

What kind of playoff record does Phil Mickelson have over his professional golf career? A pretty good one: Mickelson has won twice as many PGA Tour playoffs as he's lost.

Arnold Palmer played the U.S. Open 32 times, the first time in 1953 and the last time in 1994. Both his first and last appearances happened in years the tournament was played at Oakmont Country Club in Palmer's native Pennsylvania.

Which sudden-death playoff lasted the longest on the LPGA Tour, and how many holes did it go? The longest sudden-death playoff in LPGA history lasted a whopping 10 holes before the winner finally emerged.

One of the greatest players in golf history also holds the LPGA Tour record for most times losing in playoffs. And the other golfers on the list of most LPGA playoff losses also happen to be greats.

Has Tiger Woods been a good playoff player over his career? Yes — in fact, Woods has been great in playoffs. That probably doesn't surprise you. But the fact is, a golfer's overall greatness isn't necessarily an indicator of playoff success: Arnold Palmer's playoff record and Jack Nicklaus' playoff record are both good, but not great. And Ben Hogan had a losing record in playoffs .

What is the longest playoff in PGA Tour history? What we are talking about here are sudden-death playoffs. In earlier times, many (most) PGA Tour events scheduled 18-hole, next-day playoffs. Beginning in the late 1950s and especially in the early 1960s, nearly all tournaments that used those 18-hole, next-day playoffs switched to the sudden-death format.