Who is better, Cotton or Nicklaus?
Jack Nicklaus leads with a GOAT score of 95.0 against 88.4 for Henry Cotton — a gap of 6.6 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Cotton vs Nicklaus
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Jack Nicklaus above Henry Cotton: 95.0 vs 88.4. Jack Nicklaus leads on Longevity, Honours, Dominance. Henry Cotton leads on Peak.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
NicklausWinner
95.0Nicklaus wins: Dominance, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Cotton
88.4Cotton wins: Peak
Candidates
Locked to GolfShareable URL · /compare/henry-cotton-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 4 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Jack Nicklaus
2. Henry Cotton
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 Cotton — 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 | CottonRetired | NicklausRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Open Championships | 3 | — |
| Professional wins | 30 | — |
| Ryder Cup appearances | 3 | — |
| Ryder Cup captaincies | 2 | — |
| Career span in years | 31 | — |
| 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% | 86 | 94 |
| Peak w20% | 94 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 88 | 99 |
| Honours w20% | 88 | 99 |
| Statistics w15% | 86 | 90 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Nicklaus95.0
Cotton88.4
FAQ
Where does Cotton beat Nicklaus?
Cotton scores higher on peak. Nicklaus leads on dominance, honours, statistics, longevity.
How is the Cotton vs Nicklaus score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Cotton: 88.4, Nicklaus: 95.0.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Cotton 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.