5 oldest players to win the PGA Championship

The 2016 battle we saw between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson in the 145th Open Championship at Royal Troon was special on a number of levels.

One such "number" had to do with age. Two players in their 40s — Stenson (40) and Mickelson (46) — ran away from the rest of the field. It was impressive.

So, could a 40-something win the PGA Championship?

Don't bet too much on it seeing that a 40-something has won the PGA Championship just once in the previous 15 PGA Championships played. That honor belongs to a then 41 years, 5 months, 24 days old Vijay Singh when he won at Whistling Straits in 2004.

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Recently, twenty-somethings have done well at the PGA Championship. Justin Thomas was 24 when he won in 2017 and Brooks Koepka was 28 in 2018.

While it's not likely — based on recent history — that we'll see a player in his 40s win at Bethpage Black, don't tell that to Tiger who just picked up his 15th major at age 43.

Here's a list of the five oldest players ever to win a PGA Championship.

5. Jack Nicklaus. Born on Jan. 21, 1940, the Golden Bear won the 1980 PGA Championship at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y., at the age of 40 years, 6 months, 20 days. It was the 17th of Nicklaus' record 18 major titles, as he famously won his last in the 1986 Masters at the age of 46 -- still the oldest winner of that tournament. Nicklaus blew away the field with a seven-stroke victory and was the only player to finish 72 holes under par at 6-under 274.

4. Vijay Singh. Born Feb. 22, 1963, Singh captured the 2004 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis. at the age of 41 years, 5 months, 24 days. Singh, a three-time major champion, who also won the 1998 PGA Championship at Sahalee, outlasted Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard in a three-hole, aggregate score playoff.

3. Lee Trevino. Born Dec. 1, 1939, the Merry Mex was 44 years, 8 months, 18 days old when he won the 1984 PGA Championship at Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club in Birmingham, Ala. It was Trevino's sixth and final major title. He finished four shots clear of runners up Gary Player and Lanny Wadkins.

2. Jerry Barber. Born April 25, 1916, Barber was 45 years, 3 months, 6 days old when he was victorious at Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill., in the 1961 PGA Championship. Barber defeated Don January in an 18-hole Monday playoff with a score of 3-under 67 to January's 2-under 68, to win his lone major.

1. Julius Boros. Born March 3, 1920, Boros was 48 years, 4 months, 18 days old when was one stroke better than Bob Charles and Arnold Palmer on his way to winning the 1968 PGA Championship at Pecan Valley Golf Club in San Antonio, Texas. It was Boros' third and final major victory. Along with being the oldest PGA Champion of all time, Boros is also the oldest major winner in the game's history.

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