Youngest Major Championship Winners (Men) in Golf History

Who is the youngest golfer to win one of the men's major championships (British Open, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, The Masters) of professional golf? All-time, the youngest major winner is 17-year-old Young Tom Morris. Since 1900, the youngest is 19-year-old John McDermott. And in the modern era — whether you define "modern" as "post-World War II" (since 1946) or "since 1970" — the youngest is 21-year-old Tiger Woods.

Lists of the youngest major winners, both all-time and since 1946, appear below. First, the youngest champions at each of the four majors: 17-year-old Young Tom Morris in The Open Championship; 19-year-old McDermott in the U.S. Open; 20-year-old Gene Sarazen in the PGA Championship; and 21-year-old Woods in The Masters.

Youngest Major Winners All-Time

• 17 years, 5 months, 3 days — Young Tom Morris, 1868 British Open
• 18 years, 4 months, 27 days — Young Tom Morris, 1869 British Open
• 19 years, 4 months, 26 days — Young Tom Morris, 1870 British Open
• 19 years, 10 months, 12 days — John McDermott, 1911 U.S. Open
• 20 years, 4 months, 11 days — Francis Ouimet, 1913 U.S. Open
• 20 years, 4 months, 18 days — Gene Sarazen, 1922 U.S. Open
• 20 years, 5 months, 23 days — Gene Sarazen, 1922 PGA Championship
• 20 years, 7 months, 11 days — Tom Creavy, 1931 PGA Championship
• 20 years, 11 months, 21 days — John McDermott, 1912 U.S. Open
• 21 years, 3 months, 14 days — Tiger Woods, 1997 Masters Tournament

And Young Tom Morris won his fourth and final Open Championship title in 1872 at the age of 21 years, 4 months, 24 days old.

Tom Morris Jr., whom we remember as Young Tom Morris, first played in The Open when he was only 14 years old. The son of (naturally) Old Tom Morris, Young Tom's first win, at age 17 in 1868, came against a field of just 12 golfers. That was the ninth British Open ever played, and tournament golfers — especially professional golfers — were still a rarity. The field sizes in Morris' other victories were 14 in 1869, 20 in 1870, and only eight golfers in 1872. (Morris' dad, Old Tom, still appears on the list of oldest major championship winners.)

Field sizes began increasing in the late 19th century, and the U.S. Open launched in 1895. McDermott, the youngest post-1900 major champion, got into a playoff at age 18 in the 1910 U.S. Open. He had to wait a year, until the tender age of 19, to win the USGA national championship.

The PGA Championship was first played in 1916, and The Masters in 1934. All but one of the golfers on the list above won the major(s) that puts him on the list prior to that 1934 launch of The Masters, except one: Tiger Woods.

With Woods' 1997 Masters victory the only one later than 1931, let's create another list to cover later majors:

Youngest Major Winners Since 1946

We're going with 1946-present (aka, post-World War II) to cover more ground and to get a couple more famous names into the following list. But the top four on this list wouldn't be any different had we used post-1970 as our "modern era," or 1983-present as the PGA Tour does in its listing of this record.

• 21 years, 3 months, 14 days — Tiger Woods, 1997 Masters Tournament
• 21 years, 8 months, 16 days — Jordan Spieth, 2015 Masters Tournament
• 21 years, 10 months, 25 days — Jordan Spieth, 2015 U.S. Open
• 22 years, 1 month, 15 days — Rory McIlroy, 2011 U.S. Open
• 22 years, 3 months 12 days — Seve Ballesteros, 1979 British Open
• 22 years, 4 months, 27 days — Jack Nicklaus, 1962 U.S. Open
• 23 years, 4 days — Seve Ballesteros, 1980 Masters
• 23 years, 2 months, 17 days — Jack Nicklaus, 1963 Masters
• 23 years, 3 months, 8 days — Rory McIlroy, 2012 PGA Championship
• 23 years, 6 months — Jack Nicklaus, 1963 PGA Championship
• 23 years, 6 months, 3 days — Collin Morikawa, 2020 PGA Championship
• 23 years, 7 months, 16 days — Tiger Woods, 1999 PGA Championship
• 23 years, 11 months, 26 days — Jordan Spieth, 2017 Open Championship

Woods was the first golfer in the post-World War II era to win any of the four majors before reaching his 22nd birthday. Woods' rookie year was 1996, but in 1997 he was in his first full season on the PGA Tour. And while everyone expected great things from him (and he'd already won multiple tour events), his record-setting, 12-stroke win in that 1997 Masters showed just how great he would be.

Woods went on to win 14 more majors, including another one that makes the list. The first two of Ballesteros' five majors are represented, as are the first three of Nicklaus' 18 majors and first two of McIlroy's six (so far) majors. (And, by the way, it was Ballesteros' record as youngest major winner post-WWII that Woods broke in 1997.) But all of Spieth's majors (so far) are included in the list above: He won three major championships, all before turning 24 years old.

Related articles:

• Youngest winners of women's major championships
• Youngest winners on the PGA Tour
• More of the youngest winners in pro golf history

Sources:
PGA Tour. Official 2018-19 Media Guide, All-Time Records, Youngest Major Winners.
PGA Tour. 2026 PGA Tour Media Guide, All-Time Records, Youngest Major Winners.