Playoff Formats for Golf’s Four Major Championships
The four major golf championships include the U.S Open, PGA, British Open and The Masters.
The significant championships alongside the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup are golf’s main events. Elite and professional players from around the world participate in these games, and the number and variety of this championship a player engages in make their reputation. The prizes offered in the tournaments though not the topmost in golf can boost a player’s professional careers and may enable one get endorsements and negotiate contracts better. For instance, a win in the primary championships can get an otherwise unknown player to be signed up. Again, such can help a player get some security in that he gets an exemption from annually re-qualification for a tour card in his home tour. A win in PGA can secure one an exception lasting up to 5 years whereas one in the European Tour secures an exemption that can last up to 7 years. The championships usually occur in a specific order starting with The Masters, U.S Open, British Open and finally the PGA Championships. This year’s championships began in early April and ended in mid-August.
Now, all the four major golf championships have their playoff formats and systems.
The Masters. The playoff format for this championship is the sudden death format. Usually, all players start at a ground ten then if necessarily proceed to 18 and continues until a given hole is won.
An 18-hole playoff is often used at the U.S Open playoff format. That in the event of a tie, players are allowed some time to go home, rest and come back the next day for a playoff. The playoff starts from 72-hole to 90, and in case there is a tie after the 90 holes, the event will then turn to a sudden death contest. This playoff format is a thrill for some reasons. Firstly, the composition gives an extra round of playing the game all over again. Secondly, unlike in the other majors, a player in this championship, compete in the game without being affected by one or two bad holes. The most recent playoff in this tournament happened in 2008 at Torrey Pines when Tiger Woods won against Rocco Mediate.
British Open championship employ an aggregate playoff format. Players participate and compete in a select number of holes mostly four. In case of a tie, sudden death technique is applied.
The PGA championships make use of a 3-hole aggregate playoff to determine a winner especially in cases where there are ties. In case of a tie between more players, holes 10,17 and 18 are replayed, and if the tie still exists after this, a sudden death format is employed. The playoff then starts on hole no 18 then continues to hole 10,17, 18 until a hole is won. The winner is awarded both the Championship and Wanamaker Trophy. Interestingly, the PGA championship has not had any playoffs since 2010.
As seen above, the format for a playoff for any of the four major golf championships depend on the tournament at hand. They all differ from each other in the way a win will be determined in cases where there are ties. Playoffs are not very common in these significant championships with some occurring in the 2000s. However, in cases where there are ties, the above formats are employed to break the ties. Again, in some games, a simply playoff is enough to determine the winner.
Although the four major golf championships are considered prestigious, other non-major championships feature prominent players who compete for purses exceeding those of the four prestigious tournaments. Three of these four major golf championships are played in the US with only the British Championship being played in the United Kingdom. Each of the majors features distinctive traditions and history, and a different golf organization runs each of them. The winners in these championships receive a maximum 100 points by the Official World Golf Ranking ( the main golf tours endorse this). The significant prize money is official on three golf tours including Japan Golf Tour, PGA Tour, and European Tour.
The Master’s championships are the only tournament played at the same course (Augusta National Golf Club) every year. The competition invites under 100 players and does not use alternates in replacing qualified players who do not participate. The US open is quite notorious for being played on courses that are difficult with challenging greens, thick and rough courses, tight fairways requiring great accuracy especially with play approach and driving. The British Championship is considered to be one of the oldest tournament currently in existence. It is also known for its maintenance of traditions of links dating back to the invention of golf in Scotland. The PGA championships are also popular with rough and difficult courses similar to those of U.S open championship.