PGA Tour Record: Most Strokes Under Par, 72 Holes
What we're talking about here is the PGA Tour record for score in relation to par. Or, to put it another way, the most strokes under par. For the list of lowest such scores below, we are (following the PGA Tour's lead) only considering scores from 72-hole tournaments. But there are a few notes below the list that you might find interesting, too.
Related: Lowest stroke totals for 72 holes on PGA Tour
The Record-Holder: Hideki Matsuyama, 35-Under-Par
Hideki Matsuyama set the current record for most strokes under par in a PGA Tour tournament at the season-opening 2025 The Sentry with a score of 35-under. He rolled in an 8-foot birdie putt on the final green to break the previous record of 34-under established by Cameron Smith at the 2022 Sentry (the tournament historically known as the Tournament of Champions).The tournament is played on the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort in Hawaii, and one reason Matsuyama (and others who have gone very low at Kapalua) was able to finish so far below par is that the tour plays Kapalua as a par-73. That makes par for the tournament 292, which made Matsuyama's 257 stroke total 35-under.
Matsuyama carded scores of 65, 65, 62 and 65 over the four rounds. He won by three over second-place Collin Morikawa, whose own 32-under would have been the record prior to 2022. For the week, Matsuyama recorded 33 birdies, two eagles and two bogeys.
The List: Most Strokes Under Par, 72-Hole PGA Tour Tournament
- 35-under: Hideki Matsuyama, 2025 The Sentry (65-65-62-65—257), Kapalau Resort Plantation Course (par-73) in Kapalua, Hawaii
- 34-under: Cameron Smith, 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions (65-64-64-65—258), Kapalau Resort Plantation Course (par-73) in Kapalua, Hawaii
- 33-under: Jon Rahm, 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions (66-66-61-66—259), Kapalau Resort Plantation Course (par-73) in Kapalua, Hawaii
- 32-under: Collin Morikawa, 2025 The Sentry (66-65-62-67—260), Kapalau Resort Plantation Course (par-73) in Kapalua, Hawaii
- 32-under: Matt Jones, 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions (70-67-62-61—260), Kapalau Resort Plantation Course (par-73) in Kapalua, Hawaii
- 31-under: Ernie Els, 2003 Mercedes Championships (64-65-65-67—261), Kapalau Resort Plantation Course (par-73) in Kapalua, Hawaii
- 30-under: Dustin Johnson, 2020 The Northern Trust (67-60-64-63—254), TPC Boston (par-71) in Norton, Massachusetts
- 30-under: Jordan Spieth, 2016 Hyundai Tournament of Champions (66-64-65-67—262), Kapalau Resort Plantation Course (par-73) in Kapalua, Hawaii
What is it about Kapalau that can, obviously, make it play very easy for PGA Tour pros? For one, it has very wide fairways, and, although it is very long, many holes have downhill runs. And the PGA Tour plays Kapalua as a par-73 course. If they played it as a par-72 instead, then only Matsuyama and Smith (the top two on the above list) would have reached 30-under.
The only non-Kapalau score on the list above is Johnson's, made all the more impressive because his 30-under happened on a par-71 golf course. A few more achievements of note when it comes to finishing under par:
First to finish 29-under on the PGA Tour: Els at Kapalua in 2003. Nobody had gone lower than 28-under to that point, so Els' 30-under gets this distinction, too.
First to finish 28-under on the PGA Tour: John Huston at the 1998 Hawaiian Open
First to finish 27-under on the PGA Tour: Mike Souchak at the 1955 Texas Open
Also note that in the past the PGA Tour included some five-round (90-hole) tournaments. Joe Durant recorded a score of 36-under-par in the 2001 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and several others also bettered 30-under in that event over the years. But, of course, they had an extra 18 holes to do it, and the PGA Tour record for most strokes under par in a tournament is specifically about 72-hole (four-round) tournaments.
