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Havers vs Nelson

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
HaversWinner
81.0

Havers wins: Peak, Statistics

Nelson
80.8

Nelson wins: Longevity

Candidates
Locked to Golf

Shareable URL · /compare/arthur-havers-vs-larry-nelson

Time range

Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇬🇧 Arthur Havers
81.0

Havers leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories. Open champion in 1923, holding off Walter Hagen at Troon.

1. Arthur Havers
81.0
2. Larry Nelson
80.8

Category breakdown

Season form · Wins per season

Career timeline · Wins 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 · Wins per season
1. 🇬🇧 Arthur Havers5 seasons played · career day 2,19127 wins
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Larry Nelson5 seasons played · career day 4,7476 wins
-77.8% vs Havers at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇬🇧 Havers000101751
🇺🇸 Nelson000002

Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 seasons are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.

MetricHaversRetiredNelsonRetired
Open Championships1
Ryder Cup appearances3
Professional wins12
Open top-ten finishes7
Career years20
Major titles3
PGA Tour wins10
Champions Tour wins19
Ryder Cup record wins9
Champions Tour majors5
Dominance w25%7474
Peak w20%9086
Longevity w20%8086
Honours w20%7878
Statistics w15%8682

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Havers81.0
Nelson80.8
The people
Havers
Nelson

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Make your case for Havers vs Nelson. 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.

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