The World Long Drive Championship is an annual

long drive Long drive is a sport where players compete to hit or drive a golf ball the farthest. Top long drivers compete professionally in events and exhibitions. Distance Professional long drivers can average over 356 yards (320 m) in competition, compare ...

competition in the sport of

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. It was first held in 1974, and since 2000 has comprised Open, Masters (over-45s) and Women's events. From 1995 to 2013, the events were sanctioned by the Long Drivers of America. The group was sold to Comcast and became World Long Drive Association. Comcast disbanded World Long Drive Association, and a new organisation founded by players, the Professional Long Drivers Association, was founded, and took over the championship, initially called the National Long Drive Championship because of restrictions in 2020, and since returning to the World Championship name in 2021. Canadian

Jason Zuback Jason Zuback (born 24 April 1970), is a Canadian golfer who competed as a professional long drive athlete. Nicknamed ''Golfzilla'', he won the World Long Drive Championship on five occasions, in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2006. He was inducted i ...

is the most successful competitor with five wins in the Open division, including four in a row between 1996 and 1999, and one in the Masters division. Swede

Sandra Carlborg Sandra Carlborg (born November 18, 1983) is a World Long Drive competitor from Alingsas, Sweden. Carlborg competes in events that are sanctioned by the World Long Drive Association, which is owned by Golf Channel, part of the NBC Sports Group, and a ...

is the most successful female competitor, with five titles in the Women's division since 2011.

Format and rules

Golfers are required to use a

USGA The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

-approved

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with a maximum length of 48 inches. In each round, competitors have three minutes to hit eight

golf ball A golf ball is a special ball designed to be used in the game of golf. Under the rules of golf, a golf ball has a mass no more than , has a diameter not less than , and performs within specified velocity, distance, and symmetry limits. Like g ...

s; to be counted as a scoring shot, the ball must land in "the grid", a range that varies from 45 to 60 yards wide and 420-450 yards long. Competitors progress through group-stages to reach the final 16, which is conducted as a

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

History

1974–85: The early years

Some of the early events were held in conjunction with the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

each year, with the long drive championship being contested a day or two before the PGA's opening round.

Jim Dent James Lacey Dent (born May 9, 1939) is an American professional golfer. Dent was born in the golf mecca of Augusta, Georgia, home of the Masters Tournament, though as an African American he wouldn't have been allowed onto the Augusta National c ...

won the first two events in 1974 and 1975. Evan "Big Cat" Williams won the next two events in 1976 and 1977. Andy Franks became the third two-time winner, capturing his second title in 1982 after also winning in 1979. Players from the PGA Tour often participated in some of the early long drive championships, with veteran Tour player

Lon Hinkle Lon Hinkle (born July 17, 1949) is an American professional golfer who has played on both the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. Hinkle was born in Flint, Michigan. He attended Santana High School in Santee, California, graduating in 1967. He then ...

winning the event in 1981. Of note was the creativity of 1984 champion Larry "Wedgy" Winchester who used an unconventionally long 60-inch club to register a winning drive of 319 yards and finish ahead of touring pros Hinkle and

Payne Stewart William Payne Stewart (January 30, 1957 – October 25, 1999) was an American professional golfer who won eleven PGA Tour events, including three major championships, the last of which came just a few months before his death in an airplane acci ...

, who finished second and third. Scott DeCandia won the first of his two titles in 1980.

1986–95: Parity

The next decade of the long drive event featured nine different champions, with only Art Sellinger managing two titles in the 10-year span (1986, 1991). DeCandia won his second title in this span with the others all being first-time champions. Sean Fister closed out this 10-year period in 1995 with the first of what would be three long drive titles for him. The longest recorded winning drive in this 10-year stretch was Darryl Anderson's 345-yard shot in 1994 but that still fell short of Williams' then-record winning drive of 353 yards in 1977.

1996–2006: The Jason Zuback era

Zuback became the first player since Williams in the inaugural two events to win consecutive championships. In fact, Zuback won four straight from 1996-99. He later added a record fifth title (since tied in the women's division by Sandra Carlborg) in 2006. Zuback also was the first to crack the 400-yard barrier with a winning drive of 412 yards in his second win in 1997. The former pharmacist also received a $50,000 first-place check for the 1997 victory, the first winner to eclipse that amount. After his four straight titles and a runner-up finish in 2000, Zuback was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame. Clayton Burger became the second to top the 400-yard mark with his winning shot of 402 yards in 2003. Fister added his second and third championship belts with wins in 2001 and 2005, joining Zuback as the only men to win three or more titles. Former Big Ten champion javelin thrower Carl Wolter (Penn State) won the first of his two titles in 2002 in a major upset, having just taken up the game of golf three months prior to the event.

2007–19: 400 plus yards becomes the norm

The 400-yard mark was topped by eight champions in the next 11 years with Justin James establishing a tournament-record mark of 435 yards in capturing the 2017 championship. James' record-breaking drive turned out to be much more than he needed. After his finals competitor missed the grid on all eight of his drives, James only needed to keep one in play at a minimum distance of 270 yards. He easily topped that distance and set the record for the longest winning drive in the tournament's 42-year history. This 11-year time frame also featured four two-time winners with

Jamie Sadlowski Jamie Sadlowski (born July 6, 1988) is a Canadian professional long driver, golfer and ice hockey player from St. Paul, Alberta. One of the longest drivers in the world with a personal best of 445 yards, he won the RE/MAX World Long Drive Champions ...

going back-to-back in 2008 and 2009, Joe Miller winning in 2010 and 2016, former University of Miami baseball pitcher Tim Burke in 2013 and 2015 and most recently Kyle Berkshire claiming the final World Long Drive Association title in 2019. In addition, Wolter won his second title in 2011. First-time winners in this time period also included Mike Dobbyn in 2007, Ryan Winther in 2012, Jeff Flagg in 2014 and Maurice Allen in 2018.

2020-present: The PLDA is Formed and a Major Winner Joins

During the global pandemic in 2020, Comcast shuts down the World Long Drive Association (WLD) and cancels the World Long Drive Championship. Long drivers, with coach Bobby Peterson and a number of professionals, form the charter for a new sanctioning body, the Professional Long Drivers Association (PLDA). The initial PLDA events in 2020 are held in Peterson's North Carolina coaching facility, with the PLDA forming its first season finale in Memphis, the PLDA National Championship. Kyle Berkshire repeats his end-of-season championship title in Memphis for 2020. The event is upgraded to World Championship status in 2021, where 2020 U.S. Open champion

Bryson DeChambeau Bryson James Aldrich DeChambeau (born September 16, 1993) is an American professional golfer. He has won eight times on the PGA Tour including one major championship, the 2020 U.S. Open. As an amateur, DeChambeau became the fifth player in hi ...

joins the investor group that jointly owns the PLDA. Berkshire repeats in 2021 as the PLDA championship winner. Berkshire is eliminated in the Round of 16 at the 2022 championship, where Martin Borgmeier defeated Bryson DeChambeau, 426-406, in the final.

Winners

*1974 –

, 324 yards *1975 – Jim Dent, 317 yards *1976 – Evan Williams, 307 yards *1977 – Evan Williams, 353 yards *1978 – John McComish, 330 yards *1979 – Andy Franks, 314 yards *1980 – Scott DeCandia, 295 yards *1981 –

, 338 yards *1982 – Andy Franks, 346 yards *1983 – Terry Forcum, 307 yards *1984 – Wedgy Winchester, 319 yards *1985 – Dennis Paulson, 323 yards *1986 – Art Sellinger, 311 yards *1987 – Joe Walsh, 314 yards *1988 – Jim Maynard, 334 yards *1989 – Scott DeCandia, 327 yards *1990 – Frank Miller, 328 yards *1991 – Art Sellinger, 326 yards *1992 –

Monte Scheinblum Monte Scheinblum (born May 15, 1967) is an American professional golfer, and the son of former Major League Baseball All Star outfielder Richie Scheinblum. While he competed on the Nike Tour, he became known especially for his long driving, wher ...

329 yards *1993 – Brian Pavlet, 336 yards *1994 – Darryl Anderson, 345 yards *1995 – Sean Fister, 362 yards *1996 –

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

351 yards *1997 –

412 yards *1998 –

361 yards *1999 –

376 yards *2000 – Viktor Johansson

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

315 yards *2001 – Sean Fister

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

376 yards *2002 – Carl Wolter

384 yards *2003 – Clayton Burger

402 yards *2004 – David Mobley

377 yards *2005 – Sean Fister

377 yards *2006 – Jason Zuback

368 yards *2007 –

Mike Dobbyn Mike Dobbyn is an American professional long-drive golfer who holds the world record for the farthest drive in history: a recorded drive at 551 yards. In regular professional golf, the hardest hitters average just over 300 yards. However, although ...

385 yards *2008 –

418 yards *2009 –

384 yards *2010 – Joe Miller UK 414 yards *2011 – Carl Wolter

409 yards *2012 – Ryan Winther

343 yards *2013 – Tim Burke

427 yards *2014 – Jeff Flagg

365 yards *2015 – Tim Burke

394 yards *2016 – Joe Miller UK 423 yards *2017 – Justin James 435 yards *2018 – Maurice Allen

393 yards *2019 – Kyle Berkshire 406 yards *2020 - Kyle Berkshire 383 yards (PLDA National Championship, first under new sanctioning body) *2021 – Kyle Berkshire 422 yards (PLDA World Championship, first full season of PLDA) *2022 - Martin Borgmeier 426 yards

Masters winners

* 1996 – Michael Hooper 333 yards * 1997 – Michael Hooper 371 yards * 1998 – Michael Hooper 354 yards * 1999 – Fred Hooter 352 yards * 2000 – Mike Gorton 310 yards * 2001 – Ted Fostey 357 yards * 2002 – Pat Dempsey

342 yards * 2003 – Eric Jones

381 yards * 2004 – Bobby Wilson 360 yards * 2005 – Gerry James 366 yards * 2006 – Gerry James 378 yards * 2007 – Frank Miller 394 yards * 2008 – Dan Boever 366 yards * 2009 – Bobby Wilson 374 yards * 2010 – George Slupski 389 yards * 2011 – David Mobley 459 yards * 2012 – Eric Lastowka

355 yards * 2013 – Stephen Kennedy 369 yards * 2014 – Jeff Gavin (

) 384 yards * 2015 –

339 yards * 2016 – Tom Peppard

347 yards * 2017 – Jeff Crittenden 363 yards * 2018 – Eddie Fernandes * 2019 – Jeff Crittenden * 2020 - Mile Bauman 343 yards PLDA National Championship * 2021 – Jeff Gavin 361 yards PLDA World Championship * 2022 - Eddie Fernandes 411 yards

Womens winners

* 2000 – Stacey Shinnick 249 yards * 2001 – Lee Brandon 291 yards * 2002 – Stacey Shinnick 292 yards * 2003 – Nancy Abiecunas 332 yards * 2004 – Sally Dee 287 yards * 2005 – Stacey Shinnick 311 yards * 2006 – Phillis Meti 326 yards * 2007 – Sheila Kelliher 329 yards * 2008 – Lana Lawless 245 yards * 2009 – N/A * 2010 – N/A * 2011 –

285 yards * 2012 – Sandra Carlborg 339 yards * 2013 – Heather LeMaster 306 yards * 2014 – Sandra Carlborg 332 yards * 2015 – Sandra Carlborg 321 yards * 2016 – Phillis Meti 310 yards * 2017 – Sandra Carlborg 320 yards *2018 – Phillis Meti 317 yards *2019 – Chloe Garner 347 yards * 2021 – Kanani Lodge 332 yards * 2022 - Sara Owada 776 yards cumulative, 258.7 yard average (best three shots format)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Long Drive Championship Golf tournaments Recurring sporting events established in 1974