GGOATRANK
🇬🇧
Golf · Professional golfer · United Kingdom

David Brown

1886–1905 · Open champion in 1886 and a US Open play-off loser in 1903.

Retired
Ranking model

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

Pure sporting data
79.8
Cultural & brand footprint 52/100 · total legacy 70.3
Open Championships
1
US Open runner-up finishes
1
Open top-ten finishes
5
Career years
20
Major play-offs
1

Category profile

Dominance
72
Peak
88
Longevity
84
Honours
74
Statistics
84

Career timeline · Wins per season

SeasonWins per seasonShare of career
18861
18875
18888
188910
18909
189112
189214
18938
18942
189510
189615

Data sources

  • PGA Tour
  • R&A Open Championship records
  • USGA championship records

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

Why David Brown ranks #132 in Golf

David Brown ranks 132nd among Golf athletes on GOAT Rank and 1962nd of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 79.8 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 72, Peak 88, Longevity 84, Honours 74, Statistics 84. 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 1886–1905 with 11 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1896, which sets the Peak component at 88. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 88 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes open championships 1, us open runner-up finishes 1, open top-ten finishes 5, career years 20.

Immediately ahead sits Paul Lawrie on 79.7, a gap of -0.1 points. Directly behind is Nelly Korda on 79.4. 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.

David Brown GOAT Score explained

Dominance72/100 · weight 25%
Measures how far Brown stood above the field while competing. Scored 72/100 against the full Golf cohort.
Peak88/100 · weight 20%
Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1896. Scored 88/100.
Longevity84/100 · weight 20%
Rewards staying at that level over time: 19 years of competition and 11 recorded seasons. Scored 84/100.
Honours74/100 · weight 20%
Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 74/100.
Statistics84/100 · weight 15%
Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 84/100.

David Brown — frequently asked

Is David Brown the GOAT?
Not on the current data. David Brown ranks 132nd in Golf with a GOAT Score of 79.8, behind Jack Nicklaus on 95.0.
What is David Brown's GOAT Score?
79.8 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 72 (25%), Peak 88 (20%), Longevity 84 (20%), Honours 74 (20%), Statistics 84 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
Where does David Brown rank all time?
1962nd of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 132nd within Golf.
David Brown vs Paul Lawrie: who ranks higher?
David Brown, on 79.8 against Paul Lawrie's 79.7 — a margin of 0.1 points.
Compare with Nicklaus