The 10 Biggest Margins Of Victory In PGA Championship History

The PGA Championship is golf’s second-youngest major and arguably the least anticipated member of that quartet. With that said, it’s still one of the most anticipated events on the annual calendar and has spawned plenty of tournaments that have gone down to the wire—in addition to some others where the winner prevailed in convincing fashion.

The PGA Championship was played for the first time in 1916 (it initially boasted a match play format before switching to strokes in 1958), and the tournament has been a very tightly-contested affair more often than not; 14 iterations have resulted in a playoff, while another 16 have been decided by one stroke.

With that said, there have been a few occasions where one golfer managed to set themselves apart from the best players on the planet, and these guys were responsible for the biggest margins of victory en route to securing the Wanamaker Trophy.

Before we dive in, I should note I’m mostly going to focus on the Stroke Play Era, although I will get to the one person who dominated unlike any other when match play was still A Thing.

Rory McIlroy: 8 Strokes (2012)

Rory McIlroy got the first major victory of his career at the U.S. Open in 2011 and headed to Kiawah Island the following year in search of his second after disappointing finishes at the other three that preceded it that year.

The 23-year-old bounced back in a big way, as he surged up the leaderboard on Friday with the help of the five birdies he had on the front nine to head into the weekend with a one-stroke lead while sitting at -6.

He’d extended it to three by the time play wrapped up on Saturday and ultimately finished at -13—eight strokes better than second-place finisher David Lynn and enough to break the record for the biggest margin of victory that had previously been set by…

Jack Nicklaus: 7 Strokes (1980)

Jack Nicklaus may have been entering the twilight of his career when the PGA Championship descended upon Oak Hill in 1980, but he was still going strong after winning the U.S. Open a couple of months before at the age of 40.

The Golden Bear headed into the weekend trailing by a stroke, but he ended up on top of the leaderboard by three after improving to -5 by the time the third round wrapped up.

The bulk of the golfers who were in contention on Sunday ended up dropping at least one shot, but Nicklaus improved by one and ended up beating Andy Bean by seven strokes to win his 17th major (the last of five that came at the PGA Championship) while setting a record that would stand for more than 40 years.

Nick Price: 6 Strokes (1994)

Nick Price had already won the PGA Championship in 1992 before heading to Southern Hills a couple of years later after getting a victory at the British Open a few weeks before.

Price finished the first round in a tie for first but was up by five when the cut was finalized on Friday and never looked back.

He was only able to pad the margin by one stroke by the time the final round concluded with him sitting at -11 while Corey Pavin finished in a fairly distant second at -5.

He also set what was then a PGA Championship record by completing the tournament in 269 strokes (Xander Schauffele set the current one with 263 in 2024) during what ended up being the last major win of his career.

Tiger Woods: 5 Strokes (2006)

It’s pretty hard to put together a list concerning dominant performances by PGA Tour players that doesn’t feature Tiger Woods, and this one is no exception.

In 2006, Tiger Woods missed the cut at a major for the first time since turning pro after failing to make the weekend at the U.S. Open, which was also the first time he’d competed in one of The Big Four tournaments since his father passed away earlier that year.

However, he bounced back with a win at The British Open and was looking to keep the momentum going at Medinah Country Club in search of his third PGA Championship win and 12th major victory.

Tiger was three strokes back by the end of the first round and one behind the leaders when Saturday rolled around. However, he shot -7 on Saturday and was tied with Luke Donald in first at -14 prior to the last 18 holes.

Donald dropped a couple of shots as Tiger did what Tiger did best to finish at -18 and earn a five-stroke victory over Shaun Micheel, who ended up all alone in second.

Davis Love III: 5 Strokes (1997)

Tiger essentially put the PGA Tour on notice in 1997 after winning The Masters by a staggering 12 strokes, although he hadn’t yet reached the point where a lot of golfers felt like they were playing for second place when they showed up to a tournament he was competing in.

Davis Love III was one of the many talented players who’d eventually end up in that position, and he was still in search of his first major victory when the PGA Championship was held at Winged Foot that year.

Love spent the first few days near or at the top of the leaderboard, and the tournament had officially turned into a two-man affair when he and Justin Leonard headed into the final round at -7—seven strokes head of the two men tied for second with even par.

Leonard dropped a stroke while Love shaved four more off of his score to get the win by five and earn the only major triumph of his career.

Lee Trevino: 4 Strokes (1984)

Four different golfers have won the PGA Championship by exactly four strokes, and I’m going to start with the most recent and work my way back.

We’re kicking things off with Lee Trevino, the fan favorite who’s most recent major win was a victory at The British Open in 1972 when the PGA Championship got underway at Shoal Creek in Alabama in 1984.

Most people didn’t think the 44-year-old was going to contend, but he did exactly that from the start and had a one-stroke lead over Lanny Wadkins when he headed into Sunday at -12.

Wadkins’ score remained unchanged, but Trevino improved by three more strokes and ended up beating him by four to get his sixth and final major victory.

 

Larry Nelson: 4 Strokes (1981)

Larry Nelson had been playing professional golf for a decade when the PGA Championship was held at Atlanta Athletic Club in 1981 but was still in search of his first win at a major tournament.

He was four strokes behind the leaders after shooting an even 70 on Friday, but quickly made up for it with back-to-back 66s that brought him to -8 and four strokes ahead of Fuzzy Zoeller going into Sunday.

Both men ended up dropping a shot, but Nelson still won the first of the three majors he’d end up getting in fairly comfortable fashion.

Jack Nicklaus: 4 Strokes (1973)

We’ve got another appearance from Nicklaus, who is tied with Walter Hagen for the most PGA Championship victories of all time with five (although the latter got all of his during the Match Play Era).

Nicklaus was actually +1 and five strokes behind the leaders after the first day of the PGA Championship at Canterbury Golf Club in 1973, which makes this entry especially impressive.

He was only one stroke out of first place by the time Friday’s round came to a close after improving to -2, and extended the one-stroke lead he had ahead of Sunday’s play to four while finishing at -7 in an event where Bruce Crampton settled for second.

Al Geiberger

We’re capping off the stroke play victors with Al Geiberger, who only won 11 tournaments during his time on the PGA Tour but earned his spot in golf history in 1966 when the PGA Championship unfolded at Firestone.

Geiberger spent the first two days of the tournament battling with Sam Snead before taking a four-shot lead into Sunday at -2 after the man who is tied with Tiger for the most PGA Tour victories in history essentially dropped out of contention by shooting a 75.

Geiberger dropped a couple of strokes on Sunday, but that was also the case with the man he was up on heading into the final round, and he got his first and only major win as a result.

Paul Runyan: 8-and-7 In Match Play (1938)

There are a number of reasons the PGA Championship abandoned match play for stroke play (as is the case with many things in life, money was one of the biggest), but the toll it took on players was definitely a factor.

64 golfers got the chance to compete for the trophy at Shawnee Country Club in 1938, and the last two men left standing had to play a total of 12 rounds—and at least 200 holes—over the course of six days.

Paul Runyan ultimately earned the right to face off against Sam Snead in the championship showdown, and he brought the marathon to an end in very convincing fashion during an abbreviated round where he only needed 11 holes to clinch his second (and final) PGA Championship.