Who is better, Palmer or Matsuyama?
Arnold Palmer leads with a GOAT score of 87.0 against 86.9 for Hideki Matsuyama — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Palmer vs Matsuyama
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Arnold Palmer above Hideki Matsuyama: 87.0 vs 86.9. Arnold Palmer leads on Longevity, Dominance. Hideki Matsuyama leads on Statistics, Peak.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
PalmerWinner
87.0Palmer wins: Dominance, Longevity
Matsuyama
86.9Matsuyama wins: Peak, Statistics
Candidates
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Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Arnold Palmer
87.0
Palmer leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Arnold Palmer
2. Hideki Matsuyama
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season1. 🇺🇸 Arnold Palmer5 seasons played · career day 2,19011 wins
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇯🇵 Hideki Matsuyama5 seasons played · career day 1,8257 wins
-36.4% vs Palmer at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Palmer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 29 |
| 🇯🇵 Matsuyama | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 8 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Palmer87.0
Matsuyama86.9
FAQ
Where does Matsuyama beat Palmer?
Matsuyama scores higher on peak, statistics. Palmer leads on dominance, longevity.
How is the Palmer vs Matsuyama score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Palmer: 87.0, Matsuyama: 86.9.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Palmer vs Matsuyama. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.