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Who are the longest drivers on the PGA tour? List of power hitters

The PGA Tour features big personalities, elegant finesse, and mammoth drives. Let’s take a closer look at the longest hitters on the tour.

ANDREW REDINGTONAFP

The PGA Tour began keeping records of long drives back in 1980, and that has been one of the marquee criteria by which we judge golfing champions.

For the past two decades, the high-water mark was a tour average of 321.4 yards, set in 2003 by Hank Kuehne. Then, as the world settled into pandemic mode, Bryson DeChambeau broke it with a 322.1 yard average, before trumping that mark the following year with an average of 323.7 yards.

Driving distance leaders, 1980-2021

Here is the complete list of the top drivers each year based on PGA Tour’s average yards per drive.

YearPlayerYardage
1980Dan Pohl274.3
1981Dan Pohl280.1
1982Bill Calfee275.3
1983John McComish277.4
1984Bill Glasson276.5
1985Andy Bean278.2
1986Davis Love III285.7
1987John McComish283.9
1988Steve Thomas284.6
1989Ed Humenik280.9
1990Tom Purtzer279.6
1991John Daly288.9
1992John Daly283.4
1993John Daly288.9
1994Davis Love III283.8
1995John Daly289.0
1996John Daly288.8
1997John Daly302.0
1998John Daly299.4
1999John Daly305.6
2000John Daly301.4
2001John Daly306.7
2002John Daly306.8
2003Hank Kuehne321.4
2004Hank Kuehne314.4
2005Scott Hend318.9
2006Bubba Watson319.6
2007Bubba Watson315.2
2008Bubba Watson315.1
2009Robert Garrigus312.0
2010Robert Garrigus315.5
2011J.B. Holmes318.4
2012Bubba Watson315.5
2013Luke List306.3
2014Bubba Watson314.3
2015Dustin Johnson317.7
2016J.B. Holmes314.5
2017Rory McIlroy317.2
2018Rory McIlroy319.7
2019Cameron Champ317.9
2020Bryson DeChambeau322.1
2021Bryson DeChambeau323.7
2022Cameron Champ321.4

Rory McIlroy

While monster drives are no guarantee of success, as we can see in the top 3 of the 2024 rankings: Cameron Champ, Chris Gotterup and Kevin Dougherty, it does help to hit it long as long as you can keep it in play as Rory McIlroy usually does, who comes in at fourth place on the list.

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