PGA Championship Winners: Complete List (1916-Present)

PGA Championship Key Records

• Most wins: Jack Nicklaus (5), Walter Hagen (5), and Tiger Woods (5) are tied for the most PGA Championship victories of all time. See our guide to who has won the most golf majors for a broader look at the record books.
• Most consecutive wins: Walter Hagen won four straight PGA Championships from 1924 to 1927, all decided by match play. No other golfer has matched that streak in any major.
• Oldest winner: Julius Boros was 48 years, 4 months, and 18 days old when he won the 1968 PGA Championship at Pecan Valley Country Club in San Antonio, making him the oldest major champion in history at the time.
• Youngest winner: Gene Sarazen was just 20 years old when he won the 1922 PGA Championship at Oakmont Country Club, making him the youngest PGA Championship winner ever.
• Match play to stroke play: The PGA Championship used a match-play format from 1916 through 1957. In 1958, the tournament switched to 72-hole stroke play. Dow Finsterwald won the first stroke-play PGA Championship that year at Llanerch Country Club.
• Largest margin of victory (stroke play): Rory McIlroy won the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island by eight strokes, the largest margin in the stroke-play era.
• Notable first-time major winners: John Daly entered the 1991 PGA Championship as the ninth alternate and won, one of the most unlikely major victories in golf history. Keegan Bradley won the 2011 edition in his first-ever major start.

About the PGA Championship

The PGA Championship is one of professional golf's four major championships, organized and run by the PGA of America. It was first played in 1916 at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, New York, where Jim Barnes defeated Jock Hutchison in the final. The tournament was not held in 1917 or 1918 due to World War I, but it has been played every year since 1919.

For most of its history, the PGA Championship was the final major of the golf calendar, typically played in August. The tournament earned the unofficial tagline "Glory's Last Shot" because it represented a golfer's last chance to win a major each season. In 2019, the PGA of America moved the championship to May, making it the second major of the year after the Masters. The move was designed to avoid conflicts with the NFL and the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Unlike the other three majors, which are held at a small rotation of courses, the PGA Championship travels to a wider variety of venues across the United States. Iconic host courses include Southern Hills Country Club, Baltusrol Golf Club, Valhalla Golf Club, Oak Hill Country Club, and Whistling Straits. The winner receives the Wanamaker Trophy, named after Rodman Wanamaker, the Philadelphia department store magnate who helped organize the first PGA Championship in 1916.

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