Earlier this spring, there was considerable chatter surrounding distance gains in golf after the U.S. Golf Association and R&A released their Distance Insights Report. That prompted us to take a closer look at the players who have led the PGA Tour in driving distance.
This is the list of the longest drivers starting in 1980 – the first year the Tour started measuring drives – through the 2018-19 season.
John Daly in 1997 was the first to surpass the average distance of 300 yards. Daly led the Tour in driving distance in 11 seasons.
In 2003, Hank Kuehne became the first and only Tour player to average more than 320 yards per drive with 321.14. It was a jump of almost 15 yards from Daly’s average the year before.
Eighteen golfers have led this list over the last 40 years, with Daly appearing at the top more times than any other player. Bubba Watson is next with five distance titles. Others to have led the Tour in driving average more than one season include Dan Pohl, John McComish, Davis Love III, Hank Kuehne, Robert Garrigus, J.B. Holmes and Rory McIlroy.
Being a big hitter doesn’t always lead to victory lane. Only six of the 18 won a Tour event in the same year that they led in driving average: Daly, Watson, Garrigus, Dustin Johnson, McIlroy and Cameron Champ.
It’s interesting to note that neither Tiger Woods nor Phil Mickelson has ever led the Tour in driving distance.
Take a look at the year-by-year longest drivers on Tour.
Dan Pohl – 1980, ’81
Dan Pohl led the PGA Tour in driving in 1980 (274.3) and 1981 (280.1). He did not win on Tour either season. In 1980, his best finish was a solo second at the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. His best finish in 1981 was a solo third at the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club.
Bill Calfee – 1982
Bill Calfee led the PGA Tour in driving in 1982 (275.3). Calfee entered 26 events that season but got DQ’d from one of them and missed the cut in 15 others. He went from February to mid-July without making a weekend. The closest he came to winning was a T-7 in the Texas Open.
John McComish – 1983, ’87
John McComish led the PGA Tour in driving twice: 1983 (277.4) and 1987 (283.9). He only played five seasons on Tour. His best finish in his rookie season of 1983 was a T-22 in the USF&G Classic. In 1987, his best finish was a T-9 in the Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic.
Bill Glasson – 1984
Bill Glasson led the Tour in driving in 1984 (276.5). Glasson made only six cuts in 19 events that season. His best finish was T-13 at the Buick Open. He pocketed just $17,845 that season.
Andy Bean – 1985
Andy Bean led the Tour in driving distance in 1985 (278.2). Bean had a really good season, posting eight top-10s and making 23 of 27 cuts. His best finish was a T-3 at the PGA Championship at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver.
Davis Love III – 1986, ’94
Davis Love III led the Tour in driving distance twice: 1986 (285.7) and 1994 (283.8). Love made 22 cuts in 1986 and posted a T-3 at the Canadian Open in his first full season on Tour. In 1994, he finished solo second in the United Airlines Hawaiian Open. He did not find the winner’s circle either season he was the long-drive leader.
Steve Thomas – 1988
Steve Thomas led the Tour in driving distance in 1988 (284.6). Thomas played 29 events but missed 20 cuts and posted just one top-10, a T-8 in the Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic. He earned $22,669 in 1988.
Ed Humenik – 1989
Ed Humenik led the Tour in driving distance in 1989 (280.9). In his first full season on Tour, Humenik played in 30 events but missed 19 cuts and posted only three top-25 finishes. His best showing was T-14 in the Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic. His season ended with 11 consecutive missed cuts.
Tom Purtzer – 1990
Tom Purtzer was the first driving-distance leader on the PGA Tour in the 1990s (279.6). Purtzer had three top-10s and 10 top-25s but no victories in 1990.
John Daly – 1991, ’92, ’93, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02
In 1991, John Daly started his reign as the Tour’s long-drive leader. In 1997, he became the first to break the 300-yard average barrier. He did it four more times, including his final season as the top driver in 2002, when his season-long driving average was 306.8. Daly was the first to post a Tour victory during one of his seasons atop the driving-distance category, and he did it three times: the 1991 PGA Championship, the 1992 B.C. Open and the 1995 British Open.
Hank Kuehne – 2003, ’04
Hank Kuehne won back-to-back driving-distance titles. He averaged more than 320 yards per pop in 2003 (321.4), the only player on this list to achieve that. His 2004 season average was seven yards less (314.4) but still almost two full yards farther than the next-longest player. In 2003, his best finish was the Shell Houston Open (although he did win an unofficial event, the Franklin Templeton Shootout). In 2004, he missed 15 cuts in the 30 events he entered. His best finish was a solo fifth in the Nissan Open.
Scott Hend – 2005
Scott Hend held the top position for one season in 2005. His 318.9-yard average was almost two yards farther than Tiger Woods’ average that year. Hend posted a T-6 finish at the Bank of America Colonial but missed 19 cuts in the 28 events he entered.
Bubba Watson – 2006, ’07, ’08, ’12, ’14
Bubba Watson had the first of his big-driving years in 2006 and topped the distance list three years in a row before a four-year gap. In 2006, Watson had a T-3 in the Chrysler Classic of Tucson, his best event of the season. In 2007, he finished T-2 in the Shell Houston Open. In 2008, he had a T-2 in the Buick Open. In 2012, he won the first of his two Masters titles. In 2014, he won the Northern Trust in February and two months later took home another green jacket. Watson is the only golfer to lead the Tour in driving distance and win more than one event in the same season.
Robert Garrigus – 2009, ’10
Robert Garrigus led this category twice: 2009 (312.0) and 2010 (315.5). Garrigus didn’t win in 2009 but finished his 2010 season with a win at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic in November.
J.B. Holmes – 2011, ’16
Five years after winning his first PGA Tour title, J.B. Holmes found himself atop the driving-distance category in 2011 (318.4). He did it again five years later in 2016 (314.5). In 2011, his best finish was T-5, which he did twice. In 2016, Holmes was solo third at the British Open and T-4 at the Masters.
Luke List – 2013
Luke List spent one year on top of this list: 2013 (306.3). That year he made nine of 24 cuts with a season-best finish of T-16 at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Dustin Johnson – 2015
Dustin Johnson made his lone appearance atop this list in 2015 when he averaged 317.7 yards. He won the WGC-Cadillac Championship and posted two T-2 finishes, including at the U.S. Open.
Rory McIlroy – 2017, ’18
Rory McIlroy spent back-to-back seasons atop the long-drive category in 2017 (317.2) and 2018 (319.7), with the latter season coming oh-so-close to that 320-yard average. McIlroy didn’t win in 2017 but in 2018 took home the title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Cameron Champ – 2019
Cameron Champ is the most recent distance leader with an average of 317.9 yards per drive. He won the Sanderson Farms Championship early in the 2018-19 season.
Here is the complete list of the top drivers each year based on PGA Tour’s average yards per drive. Source: pgatour.com.
| Year | Golfer | Yardage |
| 1980 | Dan Pohl | 274.3 |
| 1981 | Dan Pohl | 280.1 |
| 1982 | Bill Calfee | 275.3 |
| 1983 | John McComish | 277.4 |
| 1984 | Bill Glasson | 276.5 |
| 1985 | Andy Bean | 278.2 |
| 1986 | Davis Love III | 285.7 |
| 1987 | John McComish | 283.9 |
| 1988 | Steve Thomas | 284.6 |
| 1989 | Ed Humenik | 280.9 |
| 1990 | Tom Purtzer | 279.6 |
| 1991 | John Daly | 288.9 |
| 1992 | John Daly | 283.4 |
| 1993 | John Daly | 288.9 |
| 1994 | Davis Love III | 283.8 |
| 1995 | John Daly | 289.0 |
| 1996 | John Daly | 288.8 |
| 1997 | John Daly | 302.0 |
| 1998 | John Daly | 299.4 |
| 1999 | John Daly | 305.6 |
| 2000 | John Daly | 301.4 |
| 2001 | John Daly | 306.7 |
| 2002 | John Daly | 306.8 |
| 2003 | Hank Kuehne | 321.4 |
| 2004 | Hank Kuehne | 314.4 |
| 2005 | Scott Hend | 318.9 |
| 2006 | Bubba Watson | 319.6 |
| 2007 | Bubba Watson | 315.2 |
| 2008 | Bubba Watson | 315.1 |
| 2009 | Robert Garrigus | 312.0 |
| 2010 | Robert Garrigus | 315.5 |
| 2011 | J.B. Holmes | 318.4 |
| 2012 | Bubba Watson | 315.5 |
| 2013 | Luke List | 306.3 |
| 2014 | Bubba Watson | 314.3 |
| 2015 | Dustin Johnson | 317.7 |
| 2016 | J.B. Holmes | 314.5 |
| 2017 | Rory McIlroy | 317.2 |
| 2018 | Rory McIlroy | 319.7 |
| 2019 | Cameron Champ | 317.9 |
Note: The PGA Tour explains how it obtains driving data:
“The average number of yards per measured drive. These drives are measured on two holes per round. Care is taken to select two holes which face in opposite directions to counteract the effect of wind. Drives are measured to the point at which they come to rest regardless of whether they are in the fairway or not.”
