Of the 48 or 49 courses the PGA Tour plays most years, there are some that stand out as the hardest, most difficult, by far. More often than not, many of the toughest courses on the PGA Tour come from major championship host venues. And while many believe Augusta National plays easy relative to par, compared to some of the other major courses, it turns out to be one of the hardest.
Then there are the easiest courses on the PGA Tour, excluding the majors which rotate.
So, what are the hardest courses on the PGA Tour? And, by extension, which are the easiest courses on the PGA Tour? Let's take a look by the numbers.
Hardest courses on the PGA Tour
These are the 10 toughest courses on the PGA Tour in 2020, with a limited schedule, based on average number of strokes against par:
- Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Arnold Palmer Invitational, par 72, 7454 yards, 2.106 strokes over par
- Muirfield Village GC, the Memorial Tournament, par 72, 7392 yards, 2.007 strokes over par
- PGA National (Champion), The Honda Classic, par 70, 7125 yards, 1.940 strokes over par
- Olympia Fields CC (North), BMW Championship, par 70, 7366 yards, 1.815 strokes over par
- Spyglass Hill GC, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, par 72, 7035 yards, 0.877 strokes over par
- TPC Harding Park, PGA Championship, par 70, 7251 yards, 0.755 strokes over par
- Torrey Pines GC (South), Farmers Insurance Open, par 72, 7765 yards, 0.534 strokes over par
- Pebble Beach GL, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, par 72, 6816 yards, 0.516 strokes over par
- Waialae CC, Sony Open in Hawaii, par 70, 7044 yards, 0.5133 strokes over par
- Riviera CC, Genesis Invitational, par 71, 7322 yards, 0.255 strokes over par
For each of the last five years, the hardest course on the PGA Tour by scoring average had been the U.S. Open host course that year. However, last year, Bethpage Black was toughest in the PGA Championship.
Looking at the courses that appear in the top 10 most frequently, here are the toughest regular PGA Tour courses based on their combined strokes over par:
- Torrey Pines (South), Farmers Insurance Open
- TPC San Antonio (Oaks), Valero Texas Open
- PGA National (Champion), The Honda Classic
- Innisbrook (Copperhead), Valspar Championship
- Harbour Town Golf Links, RBC Heritage
- Firestone C.C. (South), WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
- Riviera Country Club, Genesis Invitational
- TPC Southwind, WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational
- Muirfield Village Golf Club, the Memorial Tournament
Easiest courses on the PGA Tour
These are the 10 easiest courses on the PGA Tour in 2020 based on average number of strokes against par:
- La Quinta CC, Desert Classic, par 72, 7060 yards, 2.824 strokes under par
- Nicklaus Tournament Course, Desert Classic, par 72, 7159 yards, 2.766 strokes under par
- TPC Summerlin, Shriners Hospitals for Children Open , par 71, 7255 yards, 2.141 strokes under par
- Detroit Golf Club, Rocket Mortgage Classic, par 72, 7340 yards, 1.949 strokes under par
- Harbour Town GL, RBC Heritage, par 71, 7099 yards, 1.863 strokes under par
- Stadium Course, Desert Classic, par 72, 7113 yards, 1.636 strokes under par
- TPC Boston, The Northern Trust, par 71, 7308 yards, 1.606 strokes under par
- Sea Island Resort (Plantation), par 72, 7060 yards, 1.561 strokes under par
- Torrey Pines (North), Farmers Insurance Open, par 70, 6841 yards, 1.374 strokes under par
Looking at the courses that appear in the top 10 most frequently, here are the easiest regular PGA Tour courses based on their combined strokes under par:
- Kapalua Resort (Plantation Course), Tournament of Champions
- La Quinta C.C., CareerBuilder Challenge
- Torrey Pines (North), Farmers Insurance Open
- TPC Deere Run, John Deere Classic
- TPC Louisiana, Zurich Classic
- Coco Beach C.C., Puerto Rico Open
- TPC Summerlin, Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
- Sheshan International, WGC-HSBC Champions
