Category profile
- Dominance
- 86
- Peak
- 92
- Longevity
- 90
- Honours
- 86
- Statistics
- 84
Career timeline · Wins per season
| Season | Wins per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1888 | 35 | |
| 1889 | 41 | |
| 1890 | 47 | |
| 1891 | 53 | |
| 1892 | 59 | |
| 1893 | 65 | |
| 1894 | 70 | |
| 1895 | 76 | |
| 1896 | 82 | |
| 1897 | 88 | |
| 1898 | 94 | |
| 1899 | 91 | |
| 1900 | 88 | |
| 1901 | 85 | |
| 1902 | 82 | |
| 1903 | 79 | |
| 1904 | 76 | |
| 1905 | 73 | |
| 1906 | 70 | |
| 1907 | 67 | |
| 1908 | 64 | |
| 1909 | 61 | |
| 1910 | 58 | |
| 1911 | 55 | |
| 1912 | 52 | |
| 1913 | 49 | |
| 1914 | 46 | |
| 1915 | 43 | |
| 1916 | 40 | |
| 1917 | 37 | |
| 1918 | 34 | |
| 1919 | 31 | |
| 1920 | 28 | |
| 1921 | 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 John Ball ranks #22 in Golf
John Ball ranks 22nd among Golf athletes on GOAT Rank and 2865th of 4013 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 87.7 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 86, Peak 92, Longevity 90, Honours 86, Statistics 84. 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 1888–1921 with 34 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1898, which sets the Peak component at 92. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 92 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes open championships 1, amateur championships 8, seasons in top competition 34, match play titles 9.
Immediately ahead sits Gary Player on 88.0, a gap of 0.3 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.
John Ball GOAT Score explained
- Dominance86/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Ball stood above the field while competing. Scored 86/100 against the full Golf cohort.
- Peak92/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1898. Scored 92/100.
- Longevity90/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 33 years of competition and 34 recorded seasons. Scored 90/100.
- Honours86/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 86/100.
- Statistics84/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 84/100.
Top Ball comparisons
John Ball — frequently asked
- Is John Ball the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. John Ball ranks 22nd in Golf with a GOAT Score of 87.7, behind Jack Nicklaus on 95.0.
- What is John Ball's GOAT Score?
- 87.7 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 86 (25%), Peak 92 (20%), Longevity 90 (20%), Honours 86 (20%), Statistics 84 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does John Ball rank all time?
- 2865th of 4013 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 22nd within Golf.
- John Ball vs Gary Player: who ranks higher?
- Gary Player, on 88.0 against John Ball's 87.7 — a margin of 0.3 points.