As we head into Championship Sunday at Aronimink Golf Club, it’s always good to know who actually has a chance to win a Major title.
Well, we’ve got you covered. The largest 54-hole comeback in PGA Championship history is shared by John Mahaffey in 1978 and Justin Thomas in 2022. Both players rallied from seven strokes behind on Sunday to win the Wanamaker Trophy.
Those players who are within seven shots heading into Sunday at Aronimink include:
- Jon Rahm
- Ludvig Aberg
- Rory McIlroy
- Xander Schauffele
- Patrick Reed
- Justin Rose
- Cameron Smith
- Cameron Young
- Justin Thomas
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Sam Burns
- Brooks Koepka
- Rickie Fowler
- Scottie Scheffler
- Jordan Spieth
What happened in 2022?
Justin Thomas clinched the 2022 PGA Championship with an improbable march to victory at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thomas combined a final-round, 3-under par 67 with brilliance in a playoff to win his second Wanamaker Trophy.
He defeated Will Zalatoris in the dramatic three-hole aggregate, stroke-play playoff after 54-hole leader Mito Pereira, who held a one-stroke lead on the 18th hole on Sunday, hit his tee shot in a creek and made a double-bogey to miss the playoff by one shot.
What happened in 1978?
Entering the final round of the 1978 PGA Championship at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania, John Mahaffey was in 5th place, trailing legend Tom Watson by seven shots.
As Watson unexpectedly sputtered to a 2-over 73, Mahaffey caught fire, carding a final-round, 5-under 66. The comeback culminated in the first three-player, sudden-death playoff in PGA Championship history, featuring Mahaffey, Watson, and Jerry Pate.
Mahaffey won with a dramatic, 12-foot birdie putt on the par-4, second extra hole.
“I wanted to finish in the top five because I knew for sure that would get me in a lot of golf tournaments,” said Mahaffey. “I never thought that way, but I never thought I’d have a chance to win either.
“It just turned out that day was magical.”
