Category profile
- Dominance
- 86
- Peak
- 94
- Longevity
- 88
- Honours
- 88
- Statistics
- 86
Career timeline · Wins per season
| Season | Wins per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1930 | 1 | |
| 1931 | 2 | |
| 1932 | 2 | |
| 1933 | 1 | |
| 1934 | 3 | |
| 1935 | 2 | |
| 1936 | 2 | |
| 1937 | 3 | |
| 1938 | 2 | |
| 1939 | 1 | |
| 1940 | 1 | |
| 1941 | 2 | |
| 1942 | 1 | |
| 1943 | 1 | |
| 1944 | 0 | |
| 1945 | 0 |
Data sources
- PGA Tour
- R&A
- DP World Tour
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Henry Cotton ranks #14 in Golf
Henry Cotton ranks 14th among Golf athletes on GOAT Rank and 1606th of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 88.4 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 86, Peak 94, Longevity 88, Honours 88, 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 1926–1957 with 16 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1934, 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, professional wins 30, ryder cup appearances 3, ryder cup captaincies 2.
Immediately ahead sits Harry Vardon on 88.6, a gap of 0.2 points. Directly behind is Gary Player on 88.0. 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.
Henry Cotton GOAT Score explained
- Dominance86/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Cotton 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 1934. Scored 94/100.
- Longevity88/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 31 years of competition and 16 recorded seasons. Scored 88/100.
- Honours88/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 88/100.
- Statistics86/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 86/100.
Top Cotton comparisons
Henry Cotton — frequently asked
- Is Henry Cotton the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Henry Cotton ranks 14th in Golf with a GOAT Score of 88.4, behind Jack Nicklaus on 95.0.
- What is Henry Cotton's GOAT Score?
- 88.4 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 86 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 88 (20%), Honours 88 (20%), Statistics 86 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Henry Cotton rank all time?
- 1606th of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 14th within Golf.
- Henry Cotton vs Harry Vardon: who ranks higher?
- Harry Vardon, on 88.6 against Henry Cotton's 88.4 — a margin of 0.2 points.