Who is better, Els or Nicklaus?
Jack Nicklaus leads with a GOAT score of 95.0 against 81.7 for Ernie Els — a gap of 13.3 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Els vs Nicklaus
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Jack Nicklaus above Ernie Els: 95.0 vs 81.7. 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
Els
81.7Els wins: no category outright
Candidates
Locked to GolfShareable URL · /compare/ernie-els-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.
1. Jack Nicklaus
2. Ernie Els
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 Els — 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 | ElsActive | NicklausRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Major titles | 4 | — |
| Professional wins | 71 | — |
| US Open titles | 2 | — |
| Open Championships | 2 | — |
| Weeks at No. 1 | 9 | — |
| Presidents Cup appearances | 9 | — |
| Major championships | — | 18 |
| PGA Tour wins | — | 73 |
| 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% | 76 | 94 |
| Peak w20% | 84 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 90 | 99 |
| Honours w20% | 78 | 99 |
| Statistics w15% | 82 | 90 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Nicklaus95.0
Els81.7
FAQ
Where does Els beat Nicklaus?
Els does not lead any of the five categories; Nicklaus is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the Els vs Nicklaus score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Els: 81.7, Nicklaus: 95.0.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Els 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.