Ball vs Cotton
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Cotton wins: Peak, Honours, Statistics
Ball wins: Longevity
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Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Cotton leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories. Three Open Championships in the 1930s and 1940s, Britain's pre-war great.
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| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🏴 Ball | 0 | 0 | 35 | 76 | 176 | 528 |
| 🇬🇧 Cotton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
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.
| Metric | BallRetired | CottonRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Open Championships | 1 | 3 |
| Amateur Championships | 8 | — |
| Seasons in top competition | 34 | — |
| Match play titles | 9 | — |
| Top-5 Open finishes | 6 | — |
| Professional wins | — | 30 |
| Ryder Cup appearances | — | 3 |
| Ryder Cup captaincies | — | 2 |
| Career span in years | — | 31 |
| Dominance w25% | 86 | 86 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 94 |
| Longevity w20% | 90 | 88 |
| Honours w20% | 86 | 88 |
| Statistics w15% | 84 | 86 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
What do you think?
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