There are not many occasions that provide more tension and excitement during the golfing season than a sudden-death playoff at the end of a tournament.
Rory McIlroy was involved in a few sudden-death playoffs in 2025, with the most notable obviously coming as he beat Justin Rose to win The Masters at long last.
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The FedEx St. Jude Championship, meanwhile, has been decided in a playoff on 20 occasions since the first event in 1967.
But there is just one event in the history of the PGA Tour which has gone to a playoff and been decided by one of the competitors making a hole in one.
The player who won a PGA Tour event by making a hole in one in the playoff
The 2010 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open went down to the wire after defending champion Martin Laird, Cameron Percy, and Jonathan Byrd all finished the tournament on 21 under par.
It did appear that Byrd was set to be eliminated on the third playoff hole with his approach into the 18th at TPC Summerlin going off the back of the green and heading towards the water. However, the ball just got held up and presented the American with a chance to keep himself in the contest.
The trio then had to decide ahead of the fourth playoff hole whether to continue in the fading Las Vegas light.
They chose to carry on and play the par three 17th in the hope that it would prevent them needing to come back on Monday. They did, however, agree that any player could call an end to the day’s play should they feel unable to read their putt.
None of the three players needed their putters.
Byrd hit his six iron into the 204-yard hole. It ended up pitching 10 feet short before rolling in. Understandably, the then 32-year-old had no idea of what had happened, even with some fans cheering around the green.
With Laird and Percy finding the water with their shots, it was soon confirmed that Byrd had his fourth PGA Tour victory – and his first since 2007.
Martin Laird would get his chance to avenge his playoff loss at the same tournament a decade later
Laird had actually won the previous year in a three-man playoff. Chad Campbell and George McNeill were the players to miss out on that occasion.
And remarkably, the Scot would win the event for a second time after a playoff with two other players in 2020.
Laird beat Austin Cook and Matthew Wolff for his first win on the PGA Tour in more than seven years.
Byrd won for the final time on the PGA Tour in January 2011, clinching the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua.
His best result in the 2025 season was tied for 14th at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in November.
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