With the eyes of the golf world on the East Course at Oak Hill this weekend, the anticipation is building as a new PGA Championship winner will be crowned. While we’re not yet sure who that player will be, whoever takes home the Wanamaker Trophy will be joining elite company.
Whether it’s a first-time winner or a repeat champ from this year’s field, one question many golf fans may be asking is simply this: Who has won the most PGA Championships in history?
Lucky for you, we dive into the answer below, and provide some context to impress your friends with.
Who has won the most PGA Championships?
The first PGA Championship was played all the way back in 1916, beginning as a Match Play event from its inception until 1957 (with the tournament being skipped over in 1917 and 1918 due to World War I). The current stroke play format began in 1958.
Since then, there have been 72 total champions, with only a handful of repeat winners of the tournament — which includes some of the sport’s most prestigious figures, with both Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen having won the most PGA Championships with five apiece.
The below is the full list of repeat winners (with the number of PGA Championship victories in parentheses):
— Jack Nicklaus (5)
— Walter Hagen (5)
— Tiger Woods (4)
— Gene Sarazen (3)
— Sam Snead (3)
— Ben Hogan (2)
— Gary Player (2)
— Lee Trevino (2)
— Phil Mickelson (2)
— Byron Nelson (2)
— Jim Barnes (2)
— Raymond Floyd (2)
— Rory McIlroy (2)
— Brooks Koepka (2)
— Denny Shute (2)
— Larry Nelson (2)
— Nick Price (2)
— Vijay Singh (2)
— Leo Diegel (2)
— Paul Runyan (2)
— Dave Stockton (2)
— Justin Thomas (2)
In addition to the duplicate PGA Championship winners listed above, here are the remaining players who have won the major title before, which includes a combination of one-hit wonders mixed with multiple major champions.
— Tommy Armour
— Julius Boros
— Payne Stewart
— Padraig Harrington
— Jock Hutchinson
— Olin Dutra
— Henry Picard
— Jack Burke Jr.
— Doug Ford
— David Graham
— Hubert Green
— John Daly
— Martin Kaymer
— Collin Morikawa
— Tom Creavy
— Johnny Revolta
— Vic Ghezzi
— Bob Hamilton
— Jim Ferrier
— Chandler Harper
— Jim Turnesa
— Walter Burkemo
— Chick Harbert
— Lionel Hebert
— Dow Finsterwald
— Bob Rosburg
— Jay Hebert
— Jerry Barber
— Bobby Nichols
— Dave Marr
— Al Geiberger
— Don January
— Lanny Wadkins
— John Mahaffey
— Hal Sutton
— Bob Tway
— Jeff Sluman
— Wayne Grady
— Paul Azinger
— Steve Elkington
— Mark Brooks
— Davis Love III
— David Toms
— Rich Beem
— Shaun Micheel
— Yang Yong-eun
— Keegan Bradley
— Jason Dufner
— Jason Day
— Jimmy Walker
Now that you have some context on who has won the most PGA Championships, go ahead and relish in the history of the major as you soak in the action from Oak Hill this weekend. It’ll be fun to watch how this tournament unfolds — and who has the fortitude to add his name to the list above.
