The 2026 edition of the PGA Championship looks set to go down to the wire with tough scoring conditions at Aronimink keep the leaderboard congested.
Alex Smalley took a two-shot lead at the end of round three but there are 29 players within five shots of his mark at six-under, with plenty set to change on Sunday before the winner of the Wanamaker Trophy is decided.
In the event that two or more players are tied at the end of round four, the PGA Championship will progress to a play-off to decide the victor.
The play-off will held in aggregate fashion across holes No 10, 17 and 18 to hopefully settle the contest. If the players still cannot be split, No 18 will be played for a second time in sudden death – and repeated until a result is reached.
There have been five PGA Championship playoffs using the current three-hole aggregate playoff:
- 2000: Tiger Woods def. Bob May
- 2004: Vijay Singh def. Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard
- 2010: Martin Kaymer def. Bubba Watson
- 2011: Keegan Bradley def. Jason Dufner
- 2022: Justin Thomas def. Will Zalatoris
There were also eight prior play-offs held over either an extra 18 holes or settled in sudden death:
- 1961: Jerry Barber def. Don January (18-hole playoff)
- 1967: Don January def. Don Massengale (18-hole playoff)
- 1977: Lanny Wadkins def. Gene Littler (sudden death, won on third extra hole)
- 1978: John Mahaffey def. Jerry Pate and Tom Watson (sudden death, won on second extra hole)
- 1979: David Graham def. Ben Crenshaw (sudden death, won on third extra hole)
- 1987: Larry Nelson def. Lanny Wadkins (sudden death, won on first extra hole)
- 1993: Paul Azinger def. Greg Norman (sudden death, won on second extra hole)
- 1996: Mark Brooks def. Kenny Perry (sudden death, won on first extra hole)
