Category profile
- Dominance
- 90
- Peak
- 94
- Longevity
- 88
- Honours
- 90
- Statistics
- 88
Career timeline · Wins per season
| Season | Wins per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1894 | 30 | |
| 1895 | 36 | |
| 1896 | 41 | |
| 1897 | 47 | |
| 1898 | 52 | |
| 1899 | 58 | |
| 1900 | 63 | |
| 1901 | 69 | |
| 1902 | 74 | |
| 1903 | 80 | |
| 1904 | 85 | |
| 1905 | 91 | |
| 1906 | 96 | |
| 1907 | 93 | |
| 1908 | 89 | |
| 1909 | 86 | |
| 1910 | 82 | |
| 1911 | 79 | |
| 1912 | 76 | |
| 1913 | 72 | |
| 1914 | 69 | |
| 1915 | 66 | |
| 1916 | 62 | |
| 1917 | 59 | |
| 1918 | 55 | |
| 1919 | 52 | |
| 1920 | 49 | |
| 1921 | 45 | |
| 1922 | 42 | |
| 1923 | 39 | |
| 1924 | 35 | |
| 1925 | 32 | |
| 1926 | 28 | |
| 1927 | 25 |
Data sources
- PGA Tour records
- The R&A championship archives
- World Golf Hall of Fame
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why James Braid ranks #9 in Golf
James Braid ranks 9th among Golf athletes on GOAT Rank and 2578th of 4013 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 90.1 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 90, Peak 94, Longevity 88, Honours 90, Statistics 88. Those categories are normalised against the full Golf reference universe of 265 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1894–1927 with 34 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1906, 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 5, french open titles 1, news of the world match play titles 4, professional wins 26.
Immediately ahead sits Ben Hogan on 90.3, a gap of 0.2 points. Directly behind is Bobby Locke on 89.9. 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.
James Braid GOAT Score explained
- Dominance90/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Braid stood above the field while competing. Scored 90/100 against the full Golf cohort.
- Peak94/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1906. Scored 94/100.
- Longevity88/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 33 years of competition and 34 recorded seasons. Scored 88/100.
- Honours90/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 90/100.
- Statistics88/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 88/100.
Top Braid comparisons
James Braid — frequently asked
- Is James Braid the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. James Braid ranks 9th in Golf with a GOAT Score of 90.1, behind Jack Nicklaus on 95.0.
- What is James Braid's GOAT Score?
- 90.1 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 90 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 88 (20%), Honours 90 (20%), Statistics 88 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does James Braid rank all time?
- 2578th of 4013 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 9th within Golf.
- James Braid vs Ben Hogan: who ranks higher?
- Ben Hogan, on 90.3 against James Braid's 90.1 — a margin of 0.2 points.