Kiawah Island Ocean Course
Kiawah Island Ocean Course: Pete Dye, Alice Dye (1991). Par 72, 7,876 yards. Phil Mickelson won the 2021 PGA Championship here with 282 (−6).
Kiawah Island Ocean Course: Pete Dye, Alice Dye (1991). Par 72, 7,876 yards. Phil Mickelson won the 2021 PGA Championship here with 282 (−6).
Kiawah Island Ocean Course: Pete Dye, Alice Dye (1991). Par 72, 7,876 yards. Phil Mickelson won the 2021 PGA Championship here with 282 (−6).
Updated October 24, 2026
6 editions on the record, by event, newest first.
PGA of America
| Year | Champion | Score | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Phil Mickelson | 282 (−6) | by 2 strokes |
| 2012 | Rory McIlroy | 275 (−13) | by 8 strokes |
| Year | Champion | Score | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | United States | 14.5-13.5 | Ryder Cup Europe / PGA of America |
| Year | Champion | Score | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Denis Watson | 279 (−9) | by 2 strokes · PGA of America (senior major) |
| Year | Champion | Score | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | South Africa | World Golf Championships (PGA Tour; European Tour) |
| Year | Champion | Score | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Ireland | International Federation of PGA Tours |
The 1991 Ryder Cup, which the US won 14.5-13.5, earned the nickname "The War by the Shore".
The course was originally planned behind the dunes; Alice Dye suggested raising the whole course so players get unobstructed ocean views.
In 2021 Phil Mickelson, a month short of his 51st birthday, won the PGA Championship at the Ocean Course at six under, two ahead of Louis Oosthuizen and Brooks Koepka, becoming the oldest winner of a major.
Source: Kiawah Island Golf Resort - Ocean Course Tournament History
Because the Ocean Course has no prevailing wind, Pete Dye designed it as two courses in one, for an easterly and a westerly wind; the resort says a hole can vary by up to eight clubs between rounds.
Source: Kiawah Island Golf Resort - The Ocean Course (hole-by-hole tour)
The course sits at the eastern end of Kiawah Island; the resort says it has the most seaside holes in the Northern Hemisphere, with ten along the Atlantic and the other eight running parallel to them.
Source: Kiawah Island Golf Resort - The Ocean Course (hole-by-hole tour)
On the par-5 2nd the tee shot and second shot cross salt marsh twice, and Dye noted "you can't touch those wetlands here".
Source: Kiawah Island Golf Resort - The Ocean Course (hole-by-hole tour)
The Ocean Course clubhouse houses the Atlantic Room and a Ryder Cup Bar alongside the golf shop; the course hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup.
Source: Kiawah Island Golf Resort - Ocean Course Clubhouse · Kiawah Island Golf Resort - Ocean Course Tournament History
The PGA Tour and DP World Tour weeks at this course since 2017.
| Year | Event | Winner | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | PGA Championship 20–23 May 2021 | Phil Mickelson | both |
Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's tour-course research (profiles, championship history, the tour's visits since 2017, stories, details and course changes, each with its sources). A value no source confirmed is left out; nothing is estimated. The light in the room is the sun's real position on the last day of a recorded visit.
The routing and ground are drawn from OpenStreetMap data, © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL). The clubhouse is drawn by GNN from reference photographs; the photographs stay private.
Data: kiawah-island-ocean.json. Spot an error? See corrections.