At Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, PA, the 2026 PGA Championship could reach a tie for the top after 72 holes, triggering a playoff decided by a three-hole aggregate, and if needed, sudden-death play on the 18th. Sunset is scheduled for 8:12 p.m. ET, wi
NEWTON SQUARE, PA.. — The leaderboard at the 2026 PGA Championship is clustered tight enough to make Sunday afternoon feel like a moving target at Aronimink Golf Club.. With 72 holes complete. the leaders are jockeying for position knowing that a tie on top would send the second major of the year into a playoff.
It’s been years since the PGA Championship’s Wanamaker Trophy was decided in a playoff setting.. The last time a playoff determined the winner at a PGA Championship came in 2022. when Justin Thomas completed a seven-shot comeback to top Will Zalatoris to win his second Wanamaker Trophy at Southern Hills.
If no one can separate themselves after 72 holes at Aronimink, the same playoff format would apply in 2026.. Instead of sudden death right away, the playoff would be a three-hole aggregate.. Golfers would play No.. 10, No.. 17 and No.. 18 — in order — with their total score across those holes determining the champion.
If that still doesn’t produce a winner, the playoff would then pivot to sudden death by repeating the 18th hole. The playoff combatants would play the 18th hole repeatedly until a winner is crowned.
That structure matters because the PGA Championship has changed how it handles ties before. The tournament moved from an immediate sudden-death playoff to a three-hole aggregate format in 2000, when Tiger Woods bested Bob May at Valhalla.
What makes this Sunday feel different isn’t only the possibility of a playoff. but also the chance that it could involve more than two players.. There have been only two PGA Championships with a playoff that featured more than two players — 1978 and 2004.. If the tie on top pulls in more than three golfers, it would set a PGA Championship record.
Even with a larger group, the rule stays simple: every player who qualifies for the playoff would play in the same group. That means even if seven golfers are tied for the lead after 72 holes, they would all play one after another in the same grouping.
As the afternoon wears on, whether the playoff is needed should sharpen. If it does happen, the event would be extended to at least 75 holes to determine a winner.
Timing is a final pressure point. Sunset is scheduled for 8:12 p.m. ET outside Philadelphia. The PGA of America would have to decide whether the tournament could finish in time; if it cannot, returning Monday to crown a champion becomes a real possibility.
The pattern is straightforward: a tie after 72 holes pushes the event into the same two-step sequence—first a three-hole aggregate using No. 10, No. 17 and No. 18, and only if needed a sudden-death set-up that repeatedly uses the 18th hole.
2026 PGA Championship playoff format Wanamaker Trophy Aronimink Golf Club three-hole aggregate sudden death No. 10 No. 17 No. 18 Justin Thomas Will Zalatoris 2022 PGA Championship Tiger Woods Bob May Valhalla