The vast majority of professional athletes end up retiring before they hit the age of 40, and there aren’t many that make it that far without seeing their game regress in a big way. However, golf is a very notable exception to that general rule.
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Most golfers are going to lose some distance by the time they enter their 40s, but the fact that power only matters so much in a sport where finesse is even more important means it’s still very possible to hang with the younger crowd as you get up there in years.
Older golfers may still be at a bit of a disadvantage when they compete in a tournament, but it’s foolish to count them out based on how many players have managed to win a major at an age where most athletes are firmly in the midst of retirement.
Phil Mickelson: 50 Years, 11 Months, And Seven Days
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Phil Mickelson’s most recent major win had come at The British Open in 2013 when the PGA Championship headed to The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island in 2021, and he was also two years removed from his most recent victory on the PGA Tour.
He was three strokes behind the leaders at the end of the first round but surged into a tie for first by the time the second ended to set up a very intriguing weekend of golf.
Mickelson had a five-shot lead at one point on Saturday before falling victim to a minor collapse on the back nine but was nonetheless sitting at -7 and up by a stroke on Brooks Koepka prior to heading into the final 18 holes.
Lefty didn’t play his best golf on Sunday, but his +1 performance was still good enough to secure the Wanamaker Trophy for the first time since 2005 and break the record that was previously set by…
Julius Boros: 48 Years, Four Months, And 18 Days
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Phil Mickelson wasn’t even alive when Julius Boros set the mark he’d surpassed more than half a century later at the 1968 PGA Championship at the now-defunct Pecan Valley Golf Club in San Antonio.
The victory didn’t come out of nowhere when you consider Boros had won three PGA Tournaments the previous season, but it had been five years since he won the second major of his career at the U.S. Open.
His victory was a lesson in consistency, as he was five shots out of the lead after shooting a one-over 71 during the opening round and trailing by four in a tie for eighth after repeating that score on Friday.
A number of notable players struggled on Saturday, but Boros improved with a 70 that put him in a tie for second and two shots out of first. He finished under par for the first time with a 69 on Sunday, which was enough to edge out Arnold Palmer and Bob Charles for his third and final major.
Old Tom Morris: 46 Years, 3 Months, And 9 Days
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There are a few throwbacks on this list, but none of them go back as far as the man, myth, and legend who was Old Tom Morris.
Morris (who is referred to by that differentiator thanks to his “Young” son of the same name) was a Scottish legend who was born and raised in St. Andrews and honed his skills on the hallowed grounds of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club (which most people know as The Old Course).
Morris won three of the first seven iterations of what is commonly referred to as The British Open (the only major that existed at the time) before heading to Prestwick Golf Club as one of the 14 golfers who competed in the eighth that was held in 1867.
He outlasted longtime rival Willie Park during the three-round affair and beat him by two strokes, and he is still the oldest person to win The Open more than 150 years later.
Jack Nicklaus: 46 Years, Two Months, And 23 Days
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No golfer has won more majors than Jack Nicklaus, who surpassed Walter Hagen’s record of 11 with a win at the PGA Championship in 1973 and had 17 on his résumé when he arrived at The Masters in 1986 in search of his sixth green jacket.
The Golden Bear was six years removed from his most recent major victory and didn’t really have anything left to prove at that point.
It seemed like Nicklaus was going to be a non-factor after heading into the weekend at +1—six strokes behind the leader—and while he ended up in a tie for ninth at -2 when play wrapped up on Saturday, it was hard to imagine he was going to be a factor in the final round.
However, we were subsequently treated to one of the most legendary 18 holes in the history of golf: one where five different guys had the lead at one point before Nicklaus edged out Tom Kite and Greg Norman by a single stroke by shooting a seven-under 65 to finish at -9.
Jerry Barber: 45 Years, Three Months, And Six Days
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Jerry Barber was a five-time PGA Tour winner who was still in search of his first major when the PGA Championship descended upon Olympia Fields in 1961. He’d won a tournament a few months prior, but there still wasn’t much to suggest he’d be able to finally check that box.
However, he was in the hunt from the start of the tournament and had a two-stroke lead heading into the weekend at -4.
He faltered a bit on Saturday to drop into second place two strokes behind Don January, who seemed to be on his way to victory on Sunday before Barber put on a putting clinic on the final three holes to force a playoff after they both finished at -3.
The two men played 18 more on Monday to determine a winner, and Barber edged him out by a single stroke to win his only major and get what would end up being the second-to-last victory of his career.
Hale Irwin: 45 Years And 15 Days
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Hale Irwin won the U.S. Open in 1974 and 1979, but he was eleven years gone from his last major victory and five years from his most recent one on the PGA Tour when that tournament transpired at Medinah Country Club in 1990.
Irwin spent the first couple of rounds near the top of the leaderboard before shooting a 74 on Saturday that put him four shots back from Mike Donald and Billy Ray Brown, the two men tied in first at -7.
However, Donald only improved a single stroke on Sunday while Irwin shot a 67 to tie him at -8 and force a playoff on Monday.
They both shot +2 over the course of the first 18 holes, but Irwin got a birdie on the third leg of the sudden-death showdown to become the oldest person to ever win the U.S. Open.
Lee Trevino: 44 Years, Eight Months, And 18 Days
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Lee Trevino won the PGA Championship for the first time in 1974 to notch the fifth major of his career, but it was a bit hard to imagine he’d be able to snap a drought stretching a decade when it was held at Shoal Creek in 1984.
However, he was in a tie for first with Gary Player and Lanny Wadkins at -7 when the cut was finalized on Friday and had a one-shot lead over the former when play got underway on Sunday.
Trevino proceeded to win the tournament in decisive fashion and beat both men by two strokes by finishing at -15. It came three years to the day after his most recent PGA Tour victory, and it also ended up being his final one.
Roberto De Vincenzo: 44 Years, Three Months, And Three Days
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Roberto De Vincenzo is easily the best golfer Argentina has ever produced, and while he only had seven wins on the PGA Tour, he racked up close to 230 victories around the world during his time as a professional golfer.
He had the chance to win The Masters in 1968 before being disqualified from a playoff thanks to an infamous scorecard snafu, but he could take some solace in knowing he’d won a major at The British Open the previous year.
De Vincenzo was near the top of the leaderboard from the start and headed into the final round at -8 with a two-stroke lead over Gary Player (who was up one on Jack Nicklaus), and he fended off the latter’s Sunday surge to secure the Claret Jug by finishing at -10.
Harry Vardon: 44 Years, One Month, And 11 Days
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We’ve got another entry who is a throwback to the point where he was only photographed in black and white during his career in the form of Harry Vardon, the Englishman who conquered The British Open six times and got another major by winning the U.S. Open in 1900.
Vardon finished at the top of the leaderboard on the first two days of The Open that was also held at Prestwick in 1914 but needed to make up some ground after J.H. Taylor headed into the last one with a two-stroke lead.
The final round ended up being fairly anticlimactic, as Taylor collapsed by shooting an 83 and Vardon took advantage with the 78 that gave him the three-stroke victory.
Raymond Floyd: 43 Years, Nine Months, And 11 Days
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Raymond Floyd won the PGA Championship in 1969 and 1982 and earned a green jacket at The Masters in 1976, but he was still looking for his first victory at the U.S. Open when Shinnecock played host to the major in 1986.
He got off to an inauspicious start with a five-over 75 during a rain-soaked round on Thursday but rebounded with a 68 to pull within four shots of leader Greg Norman.
That deficit was reduced to three when play concluded on Saturday, and he rallied for the 66 that propelled him into first place while beating the runners-up by a couple of strokes.
Ted Ray: 43 Years, Four Months, And 16 Days
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Ted Ray won The British Open in 1912 and had the chance to get his second major when the U.S. Open was held at the Inverness Club eight years later.
He spent the first three days of the tournament near the top of the leaderboard and ended Friday and Saturday two strokes out of first place.
The 75 he shot on Sunday may have been four over par, but the other golfers vying for the top spot had even more trouble with the course against a man who outfoxed the four competitors who ended up a stroke behind him.