Who is better, Cotton or Ball?
Henry Cotton leads with a GOAT score of 88.4 against 87.7 for John Ball — a gap of 0.7 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
AthletesTeams
Cotton vs Ball
Shareable comparison — send this exact matchup to anyone.
Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Henry Cotton above John Ball: 88.4 vs 87.7. Henry Cotton leads on Peak, Honours, Statistics. John Ball leads on Longevity.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
CottonWinner
88.4Cotton wins: Peak, Honours, Statistics
Ball
87.7Ball wins: Longevity
Candidates
Locked to GolfShareable URL · /compare/henry-cotton-vs-john-ball
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇬🇧 Henry Cotton
88.4
Cotton leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Henry Cotton
2. John Ball
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
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season1. 🏴 John Ball5 seasons played · career day 1,826235 wins
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇬🇧 Henry Cotton5 seasons played · career day 3,2869 wins
-96.2% vs Ball at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇬🇧 Cotton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 🏴 Ball | 0 | 0 | 35 | 76 | 176 | 528 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | CottonRetired | BallRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Open Championships | 3 | 1 |
| Professional wins | 30 | — |
| Ryder Cup appearances | 3 | — |
| Ryder Cup captaincies | 2 | — |
| Career span in years | 31 | — |
| Amateur Championships | — | 8 |
| Seasons in top competition | — | 34 |
| Match play titles | — | 9 |
| Top-5 Open finishes | — | 6 |
| Dominance w25% | 86 | 86 |
| Peak w20% | 94 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 88 | 90 |
| Honours w20% | 88 | 86 |
| Statistics w15% | 86 | 84 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Cotton88.4
Ball87.7
FAQ
Where does Ball beat Cotton?
Ball scores higher on longevity. Cotton leads on peak, honours, statistics.
How is the Cotton vs Ball score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Cotton: 88.4, Ball: 87.7.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Cotton vs Ball. 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.