The 2022 PGA Championship is coming down to the wire with several golfers well in striking range of a win at Southern Hills Country Club.
Mito Pereira led through the front nine of Sunday's fourth round, but Will Zalatoris, Cameron Young, Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Thomas were all within three strokes of him on the back nine.
Should any golfers close in, Pereira would be forced to stave off his pursuers and avoid a tiebreaker situation.
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How is the winner decided if the PGA Championship is tied at the end of the final round? The Sporting News breaks it down.
PGA Championship tiebreaker rules
There are different tiebreaker rules for all four majors.
In the PGA Championship, there is a three-hole playoff among any golfers tied for the 72-hole lead. At the end of the three holes, whoever has the lowest aggregate score is the winner. If there is still a tie after those holes, the golfers will move to sudden death until a golfer wins.
The most similar tiebreaking format is that of the British Open, where golfers play four holes before moving to sudden death.
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The last PGA Championship was in 2011, when Keegan Bradley and Jason Dufner were tied at 8 under after the final round. Bradley shot 1 under in the playoff and won the Wanamaker Trophy. Dufner settled for second after shooting even par in the three holes.
This hasn't always been the PGA's playoff format. It used to be a full 18 before it was changed to sudden death. The first edition of the sudden-death format took place in 1972. The first three-hole format took place in 2000.
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Here is the history of playoffs at the PGA Championship in the stroke play era.
| Year | Winner | Holes |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Jerry Barber over Don January | 18 |
| 1967 | Don January over Don Massengale | 18 |
| 1972 | Lanny Wadkins over Gene Littler | 3 |
| 1978 | John Mahaffey over Jerry Pate and Tom Watson | 2 |
| 1979 | David Graham over Ben Crenshaw | 3 |
| 1987 | Larry Nelson over Lanny Wadkins | 1 |
| 1993 | Paul Azinger over Greg Norman | 2 |
| 1995 | Steve Elkington over Colin Montgomerie | 1 |
| 1996 | Mark Brooks over Kenny Perry | 1 |
| 2000 | Tiger Woods over Bob May | 3 |
| 2004 | Vijay Singh over Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard | 3 |
| 2010 | Martin Kaymer over Bubba Watson | 3 |
| 2011 | Keegan Bradley over Jason Dufner | 3 |