GGOATRANK
🇬🇧
Golf · Professional golfer · United Kingdom

Bob Ferguson

1866–1890 · Won three consecutive Open Championships from 1880 to 1882.

Retired
Ranking model

100% titles, statistics, dominance, longevity and global competition depth.

Pure sporting data
86.3
Cultural & brand footprint 52/100 · total legacy 73.3
Open Championships
3
Consecutive Open wins
3
Open runner-up finishes
1
Career years
25
Open top-five finishes
8

Category profile

Dominance
86
Peak
94
Longevity
78
Honours
86
Statistics
88

Career timeline · Wins per season

SeasonWins per seasonShare of career
18736
18744
18753
18762
18772
18781
18791
18801
18812
18824
18836
18848

Data sources

  • PGA Tour
  • R&A Open Championship records
  • European Tour

Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method

Why Bob Ferguson ranks #27 in Golf

Bob Ferguson ranks 27th among Golf athletes on GOAT Rank and 1722nd of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 86.3 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 86, Peak 94, Longevity 78, Honours 86, Statistics 88. Those categories are normalised against the full Golf reference universe of 266 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.

The record covers 1866–1890 with 12 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1884, which sets the Peak component at 94. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 94 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes open championships 3, consecutive open wins 3, open runner-up finishes 1, career years 25.

Immediately ahead sits Gene Sarazen on 86.4, a gap of 0.1 points. Directly behind is Jamie Anderson on 86.3. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.

Bob Ferguson GOAT Score explained

Dominance86/100 · weight 25%
Measures how far Ferguson stood above the field while competing. Scored 86/100 against the full Golf cohort.
Peak94/100 · weight 20%
Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1884. Scored 94/100.
Longevity78/100 · weight 20%
Rewards staying at that level over time: 24 years of competition and 12 recorded seasons. Scored 78/100.
Honours86/100 · weight 20%
Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 86/100.
Statistics88/100 · weight 15%
Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 88/100.

Bob Ferguson — frequently asked

Is Bob Ferguson the GOAT?
Not on the current data. Bob Ferguson ranks 27th in Golf with a GOAT Score of 86.3, behind Jack Nicklaus on 95.0.
What is Bob Ferguson's GOAT Score?
86.3 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 86 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 78 (20%), Honours 86 (20%), Statistics 88 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
Where does Bob Ferguson rank all time?
1722nd of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 27th within Golf.
Bob Ferguson vs Gene Sarazen: who ranks higher?
Gene Sarazen, on 86.4 against Bob Ferguson's 86.3 — a margin of 0.1 points.
Compare with Nicklaus