They've been keeping stats on average driving distances since 1980 and the list of names probably doesn't have too many surprises. Rory McIlroy is on there. John Daly, of course. Now there is new name to add, as youngster Aldrich Potgieter bombed it all over the yard on the PGA Tour this season.
In 2003, the mark of 321.4 yards was achieved by Hank Kuehne and was the standard-bearer for almost two decades. During the 2019-20 season, Bryson DeChambeau broke Kuehne's 17-year-old mark. One year later, DeChambeau broke his own record.
Aldrich Potgieter plays his shot from the fourth tee during the final round of the 2025 Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club.Go back to 1997 and you'll see that John Daly was the first to surpass the average distance of 300 yards. In all, Daly led the Tour in driving distance 11 times.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn case you were wondering, neither Tiger Woods nor Phil Mickelson ever led the Tour in driving distance.
Who are the longest drivers on the PGA Tour?
This is the list of the longest drivers starting in 1980 through the 2025 regular season.
Dan Pohl - 1980, 1981
The first officially recognized long-drive champ, Dan Pohl led the PGA Tour in 1980 (274.3 yards) and then again in 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.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJohn McComish - 1983, 1987
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.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDavis Love III - 1986, 1994
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.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTom 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, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
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.
John Daly with the trophy after winning the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Indiana.Hank Kuehne - 2003, 2004
Hank Kuehne won back-to-back driving-distance titles. He averaged more than 320 yards per pop in 2003 (321.4), the first player on this list to break the barrier. 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 a T-2 at 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.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementScott 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, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014
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.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRobert Garrigus - 2009, 2010
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, 2016
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.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDustin 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.
Bryson DeChambeau - 2020, 2021
Bryson DeChambeau broke the 17-year-old PGA Tour driving distance mark during the 2019-20 season when he averaged 322.1 yards per drive. He did so one year after he tied for 34th in distance at 302.5 yards. DeChambeau won the Rocket Mortgage Classic during the 2019-20 season.During the 2020-21 season, he reached a new mark of 323.7, almost 4 ½ yards farther than Rory McIlroy, who was No. 2 at 319.3. DeChambeau won twice during the Tour's 2020-21 "super" season, at the September U.S. Open and then in April at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRory McIlroy - 2017, 2018, 2023
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. In 2023, McIlroy earned his third driving title (326.3) and while doing so, became the first to surpass the 326-yard mark.
Cameron Champ - 2019, 2022, 2024
Cameron Champ was the longest driver (320.7 yard average) in 2024 but he also made just six cuts in 19 starts. He missed seven cuts in a row at one point during the season. His best finish in 2024 was a T-12 at the 3M Open.
Aldrich Potgieter - 2025
In August, the 20-year-old rookie South African was on pace to set the single-season record with an average driving distance of 327.6 yards. He didn't quite get there but he did end up averaging 325.0. which ranks second all-time behind the 326.3 that Rory McIlroy put up in 2023.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPGA Tour driving distance leaders, 1980-2024
Here is the complete list of the top drivers each year based on PGA Tour's average yards per drive since the stat was kept in 1980. Source: pgatour.com.
Year
Player
Distance
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
1996
John Daly
288.8
1997
John Daly
302
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
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
2020
Bryson DeChambeau
322.1
2021
Bryson DeChambeau
323.7
2022
Cameron Champ
321.4
2023
Rory McIlroy
326.3
2024
Cameron Champ
320.7
2025
Aldrich Potgieter
325.0
How the PGA Tour 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."
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: PGA Tour longest drivers all-time list now includes Aldrich Potgieter
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