Who Are The Oldest Major Winners?

Hideki Matsuyama, 29 years old. Collin Morikawa, 24 years old. Bryson DeChambeau, 27 years old. Shane Lowry, 34 years old.

The most recent winners of golf’s four Majors suggest that it is a very much a young man’s game at the elite level.

As the greats of the game get older, their chance at winning one of golf’s four Majors decreases exponentially.

However, this list of the oldest winners of a men’s Major are the anomalies to the rule as they shattered the record books.

Who Are The Oldest Men’s Major Winners?

Phil Mickelson 50 years 11 months 8 days – 2021 PGA Championship

KIAWAH ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA – MAY 23: Phil Mickelson of the United States and fans cheer as he walks up the 18th fairway during the final round of the 2021 PGA Championship held at the Ocean Course of Kiawah Island Golf Resort on May 23, 2021 in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Phil broke a 53 year old record when he won the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.

It was Phil’s first major since the 2013 Open as he stunned the golfing world into a week of breathtaking golf.

The scenes as he approached the 18th hole at Kiawah Island were unlike anything ever seen at a PGA Championship.

Julius Boros 48 years and 4 months – 1968 PGA Championship

Smiling Julius Boros, after winning the 1963 US Open Golf Championship at Brookline, MA.

Boros won the 1968 PGA Championship when he was 48 years and 4 months old.

It was the third of the three Majors he secured in his career and he won at Harding Park in San Francisco, where Collin Morikawa won his first Major in 2020.

He won by 1 shot – finishing +1 for the tournament – and took home a cash prize of $25,000.

Nicknamed Moose by his peers, Boros was renowned for excelling on particularly difficult golf courses and at US Open, of which he won two.

Boros would go on to lead the 1973 US Open after 54 holes at the age of 53, but would eventually finish 7th.

Tom Morris Sr. 46 years and 3 months – 1867 Open 

Tom Morris’, circa 1905. Scottish golfer ‘Old ‘Tom Morris (1821-1908) was one of the outstanding figures of early competitive golf. He won the Open Championship four times, in 1861, 1862, 1864 and 1867. On his 64th birthday he remained a good enough golfer to complete a round at St Andrews in 81 strokes.

Tom Morris Sr. won the eighth addition of the Open Championship in 1867 at the age of 46 years and 3 months.

It was his fourth and final Open victory, in which he basically dominated the whole of the 1860s.

Nicknamed ‘Old Tom Morris’ his 1867 win wasn’t his final appearance at the Open and he shot 81 at the age of 64 at St Andrews.

In a field of just 10 Scottish men, Morris won by two strokes and took home a prize of £7.

Jack Nicklaus 46 years and 2 months – 1986 Masters

This was Jack’s final Major victory at the age of 46 years and 2 months.

It was his sixth Masters as he beat Tom Kite and Greg Norman by one shot in a memorable tournament at Augusta National.

He won this final green jacket in 1986 six years after winning his previous Major – a relative drought in his decorated career.

This victory pocketed The Golden Bear $144,000 in prize money, more than seven times the amount he won at his first Masters victory in 1963.

Jerry Barber 45 years and 3 months – 1961 PGA Championship 

Original Caption: Jerry Barber, 45, who is 5-foot 5 inches tall and weighs 135 pounds, has become the oldest and smallest player in history to win the championship of the professional Golfers’ Association of America. He defeated Don January, 67-68, in their 18-hole play off match at Olympia Fields course near here 7/31. He is shown with trophy and winner’s check of $11,000.

Jerry Barber’s win at the 1961 PGA Championship at Olympia Fields came when he was 45 years and 3 months old and – as the original caption to this 1961 print says – at just 5 foot 5 inches tall.

This was his only Major victory and – other than a T40th finish in 1963 – he either withdrew or missed the cut at every PGA Championship until his last appearance in 1983.

Not to take away from his historic victory, Barber holed a combined 120ft of putts on the final three holes of the final round to force a 18 hole play off which he would win by one stroke.

Hale Irwin 45 years old – 1990 US Open

Hale Irwin – 1990 U.S. Open at Medinah Country Club

Hale Irwin’s victory at the 1990 US Open at Medinah Country Club came just after his 45th birthday.

This was his third Major victory – all in US Open events – and he won his first in 1974 at the age of 29.

He also ranks first on the all time list of Champions Tour victories with 45 wins, 7 of which were Majors.