Category profile
- Dominance
- 86
- Peak
- 95
- Longevity
- 72
- Honours
- 84
- Statistics
- 90
Career timeline · Wins per season
| Season | Wins per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1935 | 1 | |
| 1936 | 2 | |
| 1937 | 2 | |
| 1938 | 3 | |
| 1939 | 4 | |
| 1940 | 3 | |
| 1941 | 2 | |
| 1942 | 3 | |
| 1943 | 6 | |
| 1944 | 8 | |
| 1945 | 18 | |
| 1946 | 6 |
Data sources
- PGA Tour
- USGA
- Masters
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Byron Nelson ranks #43 in Golf
Byron Nelson ranks 43rd among Golf athletes on GOAT Rank and 791st of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 85.2 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 86, Peak 95, Longevity 72, Honours 84, Statistics 90. 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 1932–1946 with 12 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1945, which sets the Peak component at 95. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 95 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes major titles 5, pga tour wins 52, consecutive wins 11, wins in 1945 18.
Immediately ahead sits Thomas Bjørn on 80.7, a gap of -4.5 points. Directly behind is Betsy Rawls on 82.3. 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.
Byron Nelson GOAT Score explained
- Dominance86/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Nelson stood above the field while competing. Scored 86/100 against the full Golf cohort.
- Peak95/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1945. Scored 95/100.
- Longevity72/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 14 years of competition and 12 recorded seasons. Scored 72/100.
- Honours84/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 84/100.
- Statistics90/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 90/100.
Top Nelson comparisons
Byron Nelson — frequently asked
- Is Byron Nelson the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Byron Nelson ranks 43rd in Golf with a GOAT Score of 85.2, behind Jack Nicklaus on 95.0.
- What is Byron Nelson's GOAT Score?
- 85.2 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 86 (25%), Peak 95 (20%), Longevity 72 (20%), Honours 84 (20%), Statistics 90 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Byron Nelson rank all time?
- 791st of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 43rd within Golf.
- Byron Nelson vs Thomas Bjørn: who ranks higher?
- Byron Nelson, on 85.2 against Thomas Bjørn's 80.7 — a margin of 4.5 points.