Stroke play also known as medal play is a scoring system used by most of professional golf tournaments. In this type, total number of strokes taken by the player in entire golf ground is recorded and the player with the least total score wins in the tournament.
Scores of the players are generally denoted in relation to par for making the comparison of scores of the players easier.  In the case of equal scores for the players, tied players have to play a playoff.  Some playoffs adopt preplanned number of holes varying between three to a full eighteen.
If the playoff concludes with two tied players, the play continues and ends with a sudden death format by declaring the first player to win a complete hole as the winner.
Among the four important tournaments, The Masters follows a sudden death playoff, the U.S. Open adopts 18-hole playoff, The Open Championship has 4-hole playoff, and PGA Championship practices a 3-hole playoff.