Category profile
- Dominance
- 85
- Peak
- 88
- Longevity
- 94
- Honours
- 87
- Statistics
- 86
Career timeline · Wins per season
| Season | Wins per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | 2 | |
| 1959 | 3 | |
| 1960 | 4 | |
| 1961 | 3 | |
| 1962 | 2 | |
| 1963 | 5 | |
| 1964 | 3 | |
| 1965 | 4 | |
| 1966 | 2 | |
| 1967 | 3 | |
| 1968 | 4 | |
| 1969 | 3 | |
| 1970 | 2 | |
| 1971 | 4 | |
| 1972 | 3 | |
| 1973 | 2 | |
| 1974 | 3 | |
| 1975 | 2 |
Data sources
- PGA Tour
- The Open
- Masters
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Gary Player ranks #7 in Golf
Gary Player ranks 7th among Golf athletes on GOAT Rank and 437th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 88.0 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 85, Peak 88, Longevity 94, Honours 87, Statistics 86. 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 1953–2009 with 18 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1963, which sets the Peak component at 88. Longevity 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 major titles 9, professional wins 165, masters titles 3, open championships 3.
Immediately ahead sits Ben Hogan on 90.3, a gap of 2.3 points. Directly behind is Masashi Ozaki on 87.5. 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.
Gary Player GOAT Score explained
- Dominance85/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Player stood above the field while competing. Scored 85/100 against the full Golf cohort.
- Peak88/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1963. Scored 88/100.
- Longevity94/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 56 years of competition and 18 recorded seasons. Scored 94/100.
- Honours87/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 87/100.
- Statistics86/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 86/100.
Top Player comparisons
Gary Player — frequently asked
- Is Gary Player the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Gary Player ranks 7th in Golf with a GOAT Score of 88.0, behind Jack Nicklaus on 95.0.
- What is Gary Player's GOAT Score?
- 88.0 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 85 (25%), Peak 88 (20%), Longevity 94 (20%), Honours 87 (20%), Statistics 86 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Gary Player rank all time?
- 437th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 7th within Golf.
- Gary Player vs Ben Hogan: who ranks higher?
- Ben Hogan, on 90.3 against Gary Player's 88.0 — a margin of 2.3 points.