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Lopez vs Nelson

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
NelsonWinner
85.2

Nelson wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours, Statistics

Lopez
83.1

Lopez wins: Longevity

Candidates
Locked to Golf

Shareable URL · /compare/nancy-lopez-vs-byron-nelson

Time range

Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Byron Nelson
85.2

Nelson leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories. Eleven consecutive PGA Tour wins in 1945 — untouched in any era.

1. Byron Nelson
85.2
2. Nancy Lopez
83.1

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
1. 🇺🇸 Nancy Lopez5 seasons played · career day 2,19025 wins
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Byron Nelson5 seasons played · career day 2,92112 wins
-52.0% vs Lopez at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇺🇸 Lopez00092335
🇺🇸 Nelson0000115

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.

MetricLopezRetiredNelsonRetired
Major titles35
LPGA Tour wins48
Player of the Year awards4
Vare Trophies3
Rookie-season wins9
PGA Tour wins52
Consecutive wins11
Wins in 194518
Masters titles2
Vardon Trophy1
Dominance w25%8286
Peak w20%9095
Longevity w20%8072
Honours w20%8084
Statistics w15%8490

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Nelson85.2
Lopez83.1
The people
Lopez
Nelson

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Make your case for Lopez vs Nelson. 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.

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