Category profile
- Dominance
- 80
- Peak
- 88
- Longevity
- 82
- Honours
- 82
- Statistics
- 80
Career timeline · Wins per season
| Season | Wins per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 3 | |
| 1977 | 5 | |
| 1978 | 6 | |
| 1979 | 5 | |
| 1980 | 4 | |
| 1981 | 3 | |
| 1982 | 5 | |
| 1983 | 5 | |
| 1984 | 4 | |
| 1985 | 6 | |
| 1986 | 5 | |
| 1987 | 3 | |
| 1988 | 4 | |
| 1989 | 2 | |
| 1990 | 3 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 |
Data sources
- DP World Tour
- The Open
- Masters
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Seve Ballesteros ranks #47 in Golf
Seve Ballesteros ranks 47th among Golf athletes on GOAT Rank and 803rd of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 82.4 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 80, Peak 88, Longevity 82, Honours 82, Statistics 80. 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 1974–2007 with 17 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1978, which sets the Peak component at 88. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 88 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes major titles 5, european tour wins 50, open championships 3, masters titles 2.
Immediately ahead sits Catriona Matthew on 80.8, a gap of -1.6 points. Directly behind is Larry Nelson on 80.8. 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.
Seve Ballesteros GOAT Score explained
- Dominance80/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Seve stood above the field while competing. Scored 80/100 against the full Golf cohort.
- Peak88/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1978. Scored 88/100.
- Longevity82/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 33 years of competition and 17 recorded seasons. Scored 82/100.
- Honours82/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 82/100.
- Statistics80/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 80/100.
Top Seve comparisons
Seve Ballesteros — frequently asked
- Is Seve Ballesteros the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Seve Ballesteros ranks 47th in Golf with a GOAT Score of 82.4, behind Jack Nicklaus on 95.0.
- What is Seve Ballesteros's GOAT Score?
- 82.4 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 80 (25%), Peak 88 (20%), Longevity 82 (20%), Honours 82 (20%), Statistics 80 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Seve Ballesteros rank all time?
- 803rd of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 47th within Golf.
- Seve Ballesteros vs Catriona Matthew: who ranks higher?
- Seve Ballesteros, on 82.4 against Catriona Matthew's 80.8 — a margin of 1.6 points.