Who is better, Love III or Nicklaus?
Jack Nicklaus leads with a GOAT score of 95.0 against 86.4 for Davis Love III — a gap of 8.6 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Love III vs Nicklaus
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Jack Nicklaus above Davis Love III: 95.0 vs 86.4. Jack Nicklaus leads on Honours, Dominance, Longevity.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
NicklausWinner
95.0Nicklaus wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Love III
86.4Love III wins: no category outright
Candidates
Locked to GolfShareable URL · /compare/davis-love-iii-vs-jack-nicklaus
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Jack Nicklaus
95.0
Nicklaus leads in 5 of 5 weighted categories.
Love III — Insufficient verified career data to calculate a reliable GOAT Score.
1. Jack Nicklaus
2. Davis Love III
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
Through age 22 · Form index per season
1. 🇺🇸 Jack Nicklaus3 wins
1 season by age 22 · 3 per season
Setting the pace at age 22
No verified birth date for Love III — shown in the pro-debut view instead.
Every career is cut at the season the athlete turned 22, so a rookie today is measured against exactly what a legend had banked by the same birthday.
| Metric | Love IIIActive | NicklausRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Major titles | 1 | — |
| PGA Tour wins | 21 | 73 |
| Players Championships | 1 | — |
| Ryder Cup appearances | 6 | — |
| Ryder Cup captaincies | 2 | — |
| Major championships | — | 18 |
| Weeks at world No. 1 | — | 0 |
| Player of the Year awards | — | 5 |
| Career prize money (M$) | — | 5.7 |
| Major runner-up finishes | — | 19 |
| Dominance w25% | 80 | 94 |
| Peak w20% | 90 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 92 | 99 |
| Honours w20% | 84 | 99 |
| Statistics w15% | 88 | 90 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Nicklaus95.0
Love III86.4
FAQ
Where does Love III beat Nicklaus?
Love III does not lead any of the five categories; Nicklaus is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the Love III vs Nicklaus score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Love III: 86.4, Nicklaus: 95.0.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Love III vs Nicklaus. 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.