The PDGA Disc Golf World Championships is one of four major championships in the sport of disc golf, along with the United States Disc Golf Championship, the European Open, and the PDGA Champions Cup. Held annually since 1982, the event crowns world champions in several divisions in the professional disc golf fields. Since 1983, male and female competitors have played at the same venue every year.
There have been 18 different Champions in the Men's event with an average field of 155 competitors, and 17 different Champions in the Women's event with an average field of 26. PDGA Worlds has been held in 19 US states as well as Toronto, Canada for the 1987 edition.
Starting in 2017 the Open Men's and Women's divisions began playing in one tournament, while the age-based divisions play in a separate World Championships. This allows the potential to be the world champion in both an Open division and an age-based division. In 2017, the "Final 9" round was eliminated from the Championship format. This was a card of the top 4 competitors (or occasionally more) playing a 9-hole final round without any other competitors in the field.
The 2020 PDGA World Championships were cancelled on June 1, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This included the PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships in Odgen, Utah, the PDGA Junior Disc Golf World Championships in Emporia, Kansas, the PDGA Amateur Disc Golf Championships in Orlando, Florida, and the PDGA Professional Masters Disc Golf Championships in Johnson City, Tennessee. "All four events will run in the same host cities in 2021, with previously awarded 2021 World Championship bids moving back to 2022," announced the PDGA, citing international travel concerns, an inability to allow spectators, the member experience, and the difficulty of postponing the events as reasons for this decision. "Rescheduling events now, with only two to three months of lead time to make these new arrangements and execute required contracts, puts a considerable strain on our partners. Pushing these decisions out by an additional month or more, with no clear end dates on international travel restrictions, will further hinder our hosts' abilities to successfully run these events."
On December 20, 2023, PDGA announced that the upcoming 2025 world championships will be held for the first time outside of North America in Finland, in the cities of Tampere and Nokia located in the Pirkanmaa region.
Mixed Open World Champions Year Date Location Champion PDGA# Hometown Prize Stroke Margin Winning score Runner up Second Runner Up Field Size Results1982 Jul 30 - Aug 01 Los Angeles, California Harold Duvall 2018 Rock Hill, South Carolina x 1 (72-72-46-49=239) Dave Dunipace / Joe Ursino x 75 PDGA1983 Jul 29 - 31 Huntsville, Alabama Jeff Watson 1406 Sarasota, Florida x 5 (46-47-48-43-46-44=274) Tom Monroe Lew Satterfield 120 PDGA1984 Jul 26 - 29 Rochester, New York Sam Ferrans 2872 Rancho Cucamonga, California $1,000 5 (49-46-46-45-46=232) Johnny Sias David Greenwell 141 PDGA1985 Jul 26 - 28 Tulsa, Oklahoma Harold Duvall (2) 2018 Rock Hill, South Carolina $2,000 2 (48-51-43-42-53-47=284) Eric Marx / Snapper Pierson x 200 PDGA1986 Jul 23 - 26 Charlotte, North Carolina Johnny Sias 1700 Lavalette, West Virginia $1,090 7 (46-46-42-48-43-49=274) Clint Mcclellan / Geoff Lissaman x 166 PDGA1987 Aug 25 - 30 Toronto, Ontario, Canada Gregg Hosfeld 1602 Orlando, Florida $2,500 Playoff (48-50-50-46-45-47-42=328) Michael Sullivan Steve Wisecup 143 PDGA1988 Sep 7 - 10 Cincinnati, Ohio John Ahart 3455 Fontana, California $3,900 2 (47-46-47-50-51-53=294) Sam Ferrans / Randy Amann x 209 PDGA1989 Aug 21 - 26 Waterloo, Iowa/Cedar Falls, Iowa Steve Wisecup 1467 Ontario, California $2,000 3 (46-42-48-47-44-48-49-49=373) John Ahart Randy Amann 158 PDGA1990 Oct 9 - 13 Scottsdale, Arizona/Mesa, Arizona/Fountain Hills, Arizona Ken Climo 4297 Clearwater, Florida $2,042 1 (43-47-43-47-45-45-45-46-46-45=452) Sam Grizzaffi John Ahart 180 PDGA1991 Aug 21 - 24 Dayton, Ohio Ken Climo (2) 4297 Clearwater, Florida $2,700 10 (45-48-48-49-48-42-41=321) Eric Marx Michael Sullivan 160 PDGA1992 Aug 17 - 22 Detroit, Michigan Ken Climo (3) 4297 Clearwater, Florida $3,500 9 (44-43-46-41-53-47-45-42-52-29=442) "Crazy" John Brooks Steve Valencia/Jeff Malton 160 PDGA1993 Jun 6 - 12 Huntsville, Alabama Ken Climo (4) 4297 Clearwater, Florida $2,539 4 (47-44-45-46-43-45-50-45-44-25=434) Dean Tannock Mitch McClellan 136 PDGA1994 Aug 2 - 7 Port Arthur, Texas Ken Climo (5) 4297 Clearwater, Florida $2,500 18 (47-60-47-45-42-45-46-54-50-27=463) Joe Mela Mike Sayre 151 PDGA1995 Aug 13 - 19 Port Arthur, Texas Ken Climo (6) 4297 Clearwater, Florida $2,350 4 (46-50-41-50-41-45-47-53-48-27=448) Mike Randolph "Crazy" John Brooks 114 PDGA1996 Aug 6 - 10 South Bend, Indiana Ken Climo (7) 4297 Clearwater, Florida $3,600 3 (48-49-48-40-51-49-44-42-41-20=432) Geoff Lissaman Brad Hammock 160 PDGA1997 Aug 12 - 17 Charlotte, North Carolina Ken Climo (8) 4297 Clearwater, Florida $3,000 7 (45-50-48-47-47-46-49-46-49-23=450) Scott Stokely Ron Russell 157 PDGA1998 Aug 3 - 8 Cincinnati, Ohio Ken Climo (9) 4297 Clearwater, Florida $3,581 4 (47-46-47-49-48-47-48-46-26=404) Scott Stokely Scott Martin 177 PDGA1999 Aug 10 - 14 Rochester, New York Ron Russell 9999 Jacksonville, Florida $4,000 4 (46-45-43-45-46-45-46-42-48-26=432) Ken Climo Barry Schultz 173 PDGA2000 Aug 1 - 5 Ann Arbor, Michigan Ken Climo (10) 4297 Clearwater, Florida $7,303 8 (62-61-60-45-50-49-61-25=413) Barry Schultz Jesper Lundmark 238 PDGA2001 Aug 7 - 11 St Paul, Minnesota Cameron Todd 12827 Darlington, South Carolina $3,065 6 (53-49-47-53-52-53-52-46-26=431) Steve Rico Eric Tracy 203 PDGA2002 Aug 6 - 10 Houston, Texas Ken Climo (11) 4297 Clearwater, Florida $4,500 14 (51-47-44-52-48-45-43-46-46-25=447) Steve Rico Ron Russell 127 PDGA2003 Aug 11 - 16 Flagstaff, Arizona Barry Schultz 6840 Charlotte, North Carolina $5,000 6 (45-49-67-48-49-48-50-27=383) Markus Källström Mike Randolph / Ron Russell 150 PDGA2004 Aug 9 - 14 Des Moines, Iowa Barry Schultz (2) 6840 Charlotte, North Carolina $5,300 9 (41-53-55-55-42-54-43-51-49-28=471) Ken Climo Brian Schweberger 154 PDGA2005 Jul 25 - 30 Allentown, Pennsylvania Nate Doss 11794 Bend, Oregon $5,000 3 (59-49-55-52-62-52-50-52-30=461) Barry Schultz / Matthew Orum x 130 PDGA2006 Aug 9 - 12 Augusta, Georgia Ken Climo (12) 4297 Clearwater, Florida $5,500 5 (51-50-45-45-65-47-46-23=372) Nate Doss Avery Jenkins 125 PDGA2007 Aug 1 - 5 Highbridge, Wisconsin Nate Doss (2) 11794 Bend, Oregon $5,500 1 (53-49-57-50-49-58-54-26=396) Markus Källström Cale Leiviska 142 PDGA2008 Aug 11 - 16 Kalamazoo/Battle Creek, Michigan David Feldberg 12626 Eatonton, Georgia $6,000 14 (53-49-57-50-49-58-54-26=396) Nate Doss Mike Randolph 145 PDGA2009 Jul 27 - Aug 1 Kansas City, Missouri Avery Jenkins 7495 Pawhuska, Oklahoma $5,500 Playoff (53-49-50-45-56-50-46-27=376) Josh Anthon Matthew Orum131 PDGA2010 Jul 27 - 31 Crown Point, Indiana Eric McCabe 11674 Emporia, Kansas $5,500 5 (59-48-47-58-49-42-48-27=378) David Feldberg / Paul Ulibarri / Josh Anthon x 135 PDGA2011 Aug 9 - 13 Santa Cruz, California Nate Doss (3) 11794 Bend, Oregon $7,000 7 (71-73-69-79-55-26=373) Josh Anthon / Will Schusterick x 179 PDGA2012 Jul 14 - 21 Charlotte, North Carolina Paul McBeth 27523 Oakhurst, California $5,500 5 (57-48-51-56-53-47-49-26=387) Richard Wysocki Will Schusterick 144 PDGA2013 Aug 3 - 10 Crown Point, Indiana Paul McBeth (2) 27523 Oakhurst, California $5,000 5 (52-54-49-53-46-54-45-29=382) David Feldberg Nikko Locastro 131 PDGA2014 Aug 12 - 16 Portland, Oregon Paul McBeth (3) 27523 Oakhurst, California $5,000 Playoff (52-54-52-53-50-56-58-28=403) Richard Wysocki Nate Doss 144 PDGA2015 Aug 4 - 8 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Paul McBeth (4) 27523 Oakhurst, California $6,000 9 (58-54-59-51-51-53-30=356) Richard Wysocki Will Schusterick 143 PDGA2016 Aug 6 - 13 Emporia, Kansas Richard Wysocki 38008 Fort Mill, South Carolina $10,000 6 (47-48-51-56-52-28=282) Paul McBeth Nikko Locastro 158 PDGA2017 Jun 21 - 25 Augusta, Georgia Richard Wysocki (2) 38008 Fort Mill, South Carolina $12,000 8 (60-55-55-59=229) Paul McBeth Simon Lizotte / JohnE McCray 161 PDGA2018 Sep 5 - 9 Jeffersonville, Vermont Gregg Barsby 15857 Grass Valley, California $10,000 2 (55-50-54-54-57=270) Paul McBeth / Josh Anthon x 228 PDGA2019 Aug 13 - 17 Peoria, Illinois Paul McBeth (5) 27523 Oakhurst, California $10,000 1 (53-53-52-60-54=272) Ricky Wysocki James Conrad / Emerson Keith 196 PDGA2021 June 22–26 Ogden, Utah James Conrad 17295 Blacksburg, Virginia $16,500 Playoff (50+56+52+54+54=266) Paul McBeth Nate Sexton209 PDGA2022 Aug 30 - Sep 3 Emporia, Kansas Paul McBeth (6) 27523 Oakhurst, California $20,000 Playoff (56-57-53-60-56=282) Aaron Gossage Tristan Tanner / Chris Clemons / Matthew Orum 201 PDGA 2023 Aug 30 - Sep 3 Jeffersonville, Vermont Isaac Robinson 50670 Lawrenceville, Georgia $30,000 2 (53-57-53-51-53=267) Anthony Barela Eagle McMahon / Matthew Orum 216 PDGA 2024 Aug 21 - Aug 25 Lynchburg, Virginia Isaac Robinson (2) 50670 Lawrenceville, Georgia $30,000 4 (57-59-61-61-62=300) Niklas Anttila Eagle McMahon 208 PDGA 2025 Jul 30 - Aug 3 Nokia, Finland Gannon Buhr 75412 Urbandale, Iowa $20,000 1 (53-60-60-53-54=280) Aaron Gossage Niklas Anttila 200 PDGA 2026Aug 26 - Aug 30Milford, MichiganSilas Schultz79047Baton Rouge, Louisiana$30,000Playoff(61-58-61-57-56=293Rainers BalodisZachary Nash / Isaac Robinson / Jake Monn200 PDGA
Women's Open World Champions