Most Birdies in a PGA Tour Tournament: The All-Time Record
A couple things might jump out at you from the list below. One is that every golfer who is in the running for this record had his birdie-binge tournament from 1998 to today, the majority since 2006. Another is that not every golfer below won his tournament! You'd think a golfer who is challenging the PGA Tour record for most birdies in a single tournament would, naturally, win. But some of these golfers didn't. Because even when you're making a slew of birdies, bogeys and worse are still out there looming.
The Record: 34 Birdies
Sunjae Im didn't just break the old record for most birdies on a PGA Tour tournament during The Sentry in 2024, he broke it by two. The old record was 32 birdies in a 72-hole PGA Tour tournament, but Im record a whopping 34 birdies during the 2024 Sentry.Im scored nine birdies in Round 1, eight in the second round, six in the third round and 11 in the final round. He scored 25-under for the tournament, but finished in fifth place because he was also making bogeys along the way. He had one bogey in each of the first, second and fourth rounds, but four bogeys plus a double-bogey in Round 3.
Whose record did Im break? As the list below shows, Mark Calcavecchia was the first golfer to set the previous record of 32 birdies, and that mark had been matched by Paul Gow and Jon Rahm. Im, although not a big winner on the PGA Tour, was always a good candidate to chase this record: He has led the PGA Tour in total birdies in multiple seasons.
The List: Most Birdies in PGA Tour Tournament (72 Holes)
34 birdies
- Sungjae Im, 2024 The Sentry: Scored 65-66-73-63 for a 25-under total of 267. Finished in fifth place.
32 birdies
- Mark Calcavecchia, 2001 Phoenix Open: Scored 65-60-64-67 for a 28-under total of 256. Won the tournament.
- Paul Gow, 2001 B.C. Open: Scored 69-65-66-66 for a 22-under total of 266. Finished second after losing playoff.
- Jon Rahm, 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions: Scored 66-66-61-66 for a 33-under total of 259 (par-73 course). Finished second.
31 birdies
- John Huston, 1998 United Airlines Hawaiian Open: Scored 63-65-66-66 for a 28-under total of 260. Won the tournament.
- Phil Mickelson, 2006 BellSouth Classic: Scored 63-65-67-65 for a 28-under total of 260. Won the tournament.
- Tommy Gainey, 2008 Children's Miracle Network Classic: Scored 68-66-66-64 for a 24-under total of 264. Finished in second place.
- Steve Stricker, 2010 John Deere Classic: Scored 60-66-62-70 for a 26-under total of 258. Won the tournament.
- Nicholas Thompson, 2013 Humana Challenge: Scored 69-66-66-64 for a 23-under total of 265. Finished tied for sixth place.
- Jeff Overton, 2013 Humana Challenge: Scored 69-71-66-64 for an 18-under total of 270. Finished tied for 27th place.
- Andrew Landry, 2020 The American Express: Scored 66-64-65-67 for a 26-under total of 262. Won the tournament.
- Joaquin Niemann, 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions: Scored 69-67-67-64 for a 25-under total of 267. Finished second after losing playoff.
- Patrick Cantlay, 2021 BMW Championship: Scored 66-63-66-66 for a 27-under total of 261. Won a playoff to win the tournament.
- Cameron Smith, 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions: Scored 65-64-64-65 for a 34-under total of 258 (par-73 course). Won the tournament.
- Harry Higgs, 2023 The American Express: Scored 70-66-62-70 for a 20-under total of 268. Tied for 18th place.
- Sahith Theegala, 2024 The Sentry: Scored 64-69-68-63 for a 28-under total of 264. Finished second.
