Playoff (golf)

A playoff in the sport of golf is how a tie is resolved at the end of a match or competition, often by means of an extra hole, or holes, being played until a winner emerges. In 1976, the Pepsi Wilson Tournament on the Japan Golf Tour, set a record for the longest sudden death playoff on any men's professional tour. It took Peter Thomson 14 holes to defeat Graham Marsh, Brian Jones and Shozo Miyamoto. This record still stands today.

Sudden death is the most common playoff format in stroke play tournaments and even more so in match play tournaments. The tied participants play one extra hole at a time, with those still tied for the lowest score moving on to the next hole until a winner has been determined. All regular PGA Tour and European Tour tournaments use this system (except for The Players Championship starting in 2014), as does the Masters Tournament. The PGA Championship also used the sudden death format from 1977 to 1999. A player who wins in matchplay after n playoff holes is said to have won "at the (18+n)th hole" — or "(36+n)th hole" in the increasingly rare case of a 36 hole match. Many supporters, including veteran golfer Kenny Perry, support this type of play, feeling that it is best to let momentum decide the match. Tiger Woods, when interviewed immediately after his 2008 U. S. Open victory at Torrey Pines, stated that "as a player who's playing well, you want to go more holes. The better player usually wins in more holes. That's how I've always approached it. The more holes you give me, if I'm playing well, I want more holes. Not just one hole, or even three." The Open Championship used this format until 1985, when it was reduced to four holes. The three hole format is used for the men's PGA Championship (originally 18 holes, changed to sudden death in 1977, and adopted the three hole in 2000), The Players Championship, and the other three USGA sanctioned tournaments for professionals, the U. S. Women's Open, U. S. Senior Open (both were 18 hole playoffs before shortened to three in 2007, and two in 2018 Since 2000, the PGA Championship has made use of a 3 hole playoff, having previously used sudden death. The 2020 Summer Olympics tournament playoffs used sudden death to break medal ties.

TypeTournamentPlayoff format (tiebreaker after 72 holes)Men's major golf championshipsMasters TournamentSudden deathU. S. OpenAggregate (2 hole), sudden death if still tied after aggregate PGA ChampionshipAggregate (3 hole), sudden death if still tied after aggregate The Open ChampionshipMen's: PGA TourThe Players ChampionshipWomen's major golf championshipsChevron ChampionshipSudden deathThe Evian ChampionshipU. S. Women's OpenAggregate (2 hole), sudden death if still tied after aggregate Women's PGA ChampionshipAggregate (3 hole), sudden death if still tied after aggregate Women's British OpenMen's: PGA Tour, European TourAll other tournamentsSudden deathWomen's: LPGA Tour, Ladies European Tour