Julius Boros, whose rhythmic swing and tranquil tempo helped him win two United States Open championships and 16 other professional tournaments, died Saturday at his favorite spot on the Coral Ridge Country Club golf course near his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 74 years old.

Boros had taken a golf cart and driven to a bridge near the 16th hole at Coral Ridge, where he was found sitting in the cart beneath a willow tree by two country club members. He had suffered a heart attack, family members said.

"Maybe he wasn't feeling that well and just went there to think about the life he had led," said Nick Boros, one of Boros's four sons. "I think it was a great blessing. He was there at his favorite spot."

Although he had been in failing health in recent years and unable to play the game that made him famous, Boros rode around the golf course almost daily just to be near the sights and smells he loved so much. He was a private man whose reticence was well-known within the golf world, yet he is credited with uttering one of the game's more famous lines when asked, some years ago, when he planned to retire.

"Retire to what?" Boros said. "I already play golf and fish for a living." Master of Flop Shot

Born the son of a Hungarian immigrant in Fairfield, Conn., Boros played golf for a living far better than most. He had wonderful hands and the deft touch of an artist or violinist. He might have been the first player to successfully employ the flop shot -- a high, soft lob from high grass near the green -- and he did it in an era without the highly lofted wedges that are part of most professional golfer's equipment today.

He did not turn professional until 1950, when he was 30, deciding to leave the Connecticut accounting firm where he worked to take his golf game on the road. At the time he was married to his first wife, Buttons Cosgrove, the daughter of the family that owned the Mid Pines Hotel in Southern Pines, N.C. She died in childbirth in 1951.

In 1952, Boros made his first career victory the United States Open, shooting 281 to defeat Ed (Porky) Oliver by four strokes at Northwood Country Club in Dallas. Ben Hogan finished third. It was often said after that victory that Boros, because of his ability to drive the ball straight and to hit soft pitch shots when he missed greens, had the ideal game for the rigorous course setup of the United States Open.

Indeed, his record was extraordinary. From his first Open in 1950 through 1960, he placed fifth or better six times. And in 1963, he won again, this time defeating Arnold Palmer and Jacky Cupit in a playoff at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

"He was the most relaxed guy," said Herbert Warren Wind, an author and golf historian. "He seemed to have no nerves, and that made him very dangerous. I also remember that Julius was one of the few players who could stand up to Hogan. He was never scared by him, and at that time, that was pretty hard not to be." A Long Career

Boros's career also was highlighted my remarkable longevity. He won the Westchester Classic and the PGA Championship at the age of 48 and nearly won the Westchester again at the age of 55, losing a playoff to Gene Littler in 1975.

Boros, who played on four Ryder Cup teams and was named to the PGA Hall of Fame in 1974 and the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1982, competed on the regular PGA Tour until 1977, when he was 57, entering 13 tournaments that year. He had been the leading money winner on tour in 1952 and 1955, and won more than $1 million on the regular tour.

He is survived by his wife, Armen; a brother, Ernie; sons Julius Jr., Gary, Guy and Nick; daughters Joy, Gay and Jody, and five grandchildren. His golfing legacy among his survivors is substantial. Nick, 42, and Gary, 34, are club professionals in South Florida, and Guy competes on the PGA Tour. Guy Boros was playing in the Southwestern Bell Colonial tournament when informed of his father's death. He finished the tournament because, he said, "that's what Dad would have wanted."

Funeral arrangements are private.

Julius Boros (1920)