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Who Hit the Longest Drive in PGA History?

Jun. 27 2023 Golf Car Fun By Joseph Powell

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Have you ever smacked a golf ball with your driver and thought, how does it match up with the longest drives in PGA history? Well we did a little digging ourselves and were blown away by a few of them that sound more like old fairy tales. 

There are three contenders for the longest drive in PGA Tour history:

  • Carl Cooper hit a 787-yard drive on the third hole of the 1992 Texas Open. This drive was hit on a par-4 hole that was only 456 yards long, so it was not officially recognized by the PGA Tour.
  • Mike Austin hit a 515-yard drive on the 14th hole of the 1974 National Seniors Open Championship. This drive was officially recognized by the PGA Tour, but it is disputed because it was hit with a persimmon driver and a 27 mph tailwind.
  • Tiger Woods hit a 498-yard drive on the 18th hole of the 2002 Mercedes Championship. This drive was officially recognized by the PGA Tour, and it is the longest drive that has been measured by ShotLink.

Carl Cooper’s shot hit a cart path at a downhill angle and it launched the golf ball to another hole resulting in a 300 yard shot back to the green! See, we all have those days. Watch a video that recaps it here. 

Here is a list of the top 5 longest drives in PGA Tour history (ShotLink era):

  1. Tiger Woods (498 yards)
  2. Bubba Watson (492 yards)
  3. Jim Furyk (490 yards)
  4. Dustin Johnson (489 yards)
  5. Davis Love III (476 yards)

It is important to note that these distances are only estimates, as they are based on the ShotLink system, which uses radar to track the flight of the ball. The actual distances may be slightly different.