Category profile
- Dominance
- 86
- Peak
- 88
- Longevity
- 96
- Honours
- 86
- Statistics
- 90
Career timeline · Wins per season
| Season | Wins per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1937 | 5 | |
| 1938 | 8 | |
| 1939 | 3 | |
| 1940 | 3 | |
| 1941 | 6 | |
| 1942 | 3 | |
| 1943 | 0 | |
| 1944 | 3 | |
| 1945 | 6 | |
| 1946 | 6 | |
| 1947 | 2 | |
| 1948 | 3 | |
| 1949 | 6 | |
| 1950 | 11 | |
| 1951 | 4 | |
| 1952 | 2 | |
| 1953 | 1 | |
| 1954 | 3 | |
| 1955 | 1 | |
| 1956 | 2 |
Data sources
- PGA Tour
- USGA
- Masters
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Sam Snead ranks #4 in Golf
Sam Snead ranks 4th among Golf athletes on GOAT Rank and 344th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 89.0 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 86, Peak 88, Longevity 96, Honours 86, Statistics 90. 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 1934–1979 with 20 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1950, which sets the Peak component at 88. Longevity is the defining strength of the profile at 96 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes pga tour wins 82, major titles 7, masters titles 3, pga championships 3.
Immediately ahead sits Annika Sörenstam on 92.8, a gap of 3.8 points. Directly behind is Kathy Whitworth on 88.6. 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.
Sam Snead GOAT Score explained
- Dominance86/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Snead stood above the field while competing. Scored 86/100 against the full Golf cohort.
- Peak88/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1950. Scored 88/100.
- Longevity96/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 45 years of competition and 20 recorded seasons. Scored 96/100.
- Honours86/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 86/100.
- Statistics90/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 90/100.
Top Snead comparisons
Sam Snead — frequently asked
- Is Sam Snead the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Sam Snead ranks 4th in Golf with a GOAT Score of 89.0, behind Jack Nicklaus on 95.0.
- What is Sam Snead's GOAT Score?
- 89.0 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 86 (25%), Peak 88 (20%), Longevity 96 (20%), Honours 86 (20%), Statistics 90 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Sam Snead rank all time?
- 344th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 4th within Golf.
- Sam Snead vs Annika Sörenstam: who ranks higher?
- Annika Sörenstam, on 92.8 against Sam Snead's 89.0 — a margin of 3.8 points.