Julius Boros

American golfer who remains the oldest winner of a men's major championship, capturing the 1968 PGA Championship at age 48, a record that stood for over half a century.

Born on 3 March 1920 in Bridgeport, Connecticut to Hungarian immigrant parents, Julius Boros worked as an accountant before turning professional at the relatively late age of 29 in 1949. His smooth, effortless swing belied a fiercely competitive nature, and he broke through at the 1952 U.S. Open, his first professional victory, winning by four strokes at the Northwood Club in Dallas. Boros won a second U.S. Open in 1963 at age 43, defeating Jacky Cupit and Arnold Palmer in an 18-hole playoff at The Country Club in Brookline, making him the oldest U.S. Open champion at the time. His most famous achievement came five years later, when he captured the 1968 PGA Championship at Pecan Valley Golf Club in sweltering Texas heat, edging out Arnold Palmer and Bob Charles by a single stroke at age 48 years, 4 months and 18 days — surpassing Old Tom Morris's 1867 Open Championship record to become the oldest major champion in golf history. Boros's record withstood challenges from Greg Norman at the 2008 Open Championship and Tom Watson at the 2009 Open, both of whom narrowly failed to break it, before Phil Mickelson finally claimed the mark in 2021 with his PGA Championship win at age 50. Boros won 18 PGA Tour events across his career and represented the United States on four Ryder Cup teams. Boros was named PGA Player of the Year in 1952 and 1963, and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1982. He continued competing into his fifties, winning the PGA Seniors' Championship twice, and died of a heart attack on the golf course at his beloved Coral Ridge Country Club in Fort Lauderdale in 1994.

Effortless, unhurried swing paired with a strong, resilient short game

One of golf's great late bloomers and a symbol of enduring excellence into middle age