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Matthew vs Nelson

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
MatthewWinner
80.8

Matthew wins: Longevity, Honours

Nelson
80.8

Nelson wins: Dominance, Statistics

Candidates
Locked to Golf

Shareable URL · /compare/catriona-matthew-vs-larry-nelson

Time range

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

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇬🇧 Catriona Matthew
80.8

Matthew leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories. Won the 2009 Women's British Open and captained two Solheim Cup wins.

1. Catriona Matthew
80.8
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. 🇺🇸 Larry Nelson5 seasons played · career day 4,7476 wins
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇬🇧 Catriona Matthew5 seasons played · career day 3,2865 wins
-16.7% vs Nelson at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇬🇧 Matthew000015
🇺🇸 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.

MetricMatthewActiveNelsonRetired
Major titles13
LPGA wins4
Ladies European Tour wins7
Solheim Cup appearances9
Solheim Cup wins as captain2
PGA Tour wins10
Champions Tour wins19
Ryder Cup record wins9
Champions Tour majors5
Dominance w25%7274
Peak w20%8686
Longevity w20%8886
Honours w20%8078
Statistics w15%8082

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Matthew80.8
Nelson80.8
The people
Matthew
Nelson

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Make your case for Matthew 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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