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Nelson vs Lopez

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
NelsonWinner
85.2

Nelson wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours, Statistics

Lopez
83.1

Lopez wins: Longevity

Candidates
Locked to Golf

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Time range

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

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Byron Nelson
85.2

Nelson leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories. Eleven consecutive PGA Tour wins in 1945 — untouched in any era.

1. Byron Nelson
85.2
2. Nancy Lopez
83.1

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. 🇺🇸 Nancy Lopez5 seasons played · career day 2,19025 wins
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Byron Nelson5 seasons played · career day 2,92112 wins
-52.0% vs Lopez at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇺🇸 Nelson0000115
🇺🇸 Lopez00092335

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.

MetricNelsonRetiredLopezRetired
Major titles53
PGA Tour wins52
Consecutive wins11
Wins in 194518
Masters titles2
Vardon Trophy1
LPGA Tour wins48
Player of the Year awards4
Vare Trophies3
Rookie-season wins9
Dominance w25%8682
Peak w20%9590
Longevity w20%7280
Honours w20%8480
Statistics w15%9084

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Nelson85.2
Lopez83.1
The people
Nelson
Lopez

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Make your case for Nelson vs Lopez. 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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