GOAT Rank · 33

Greatest Golf Professional of all time

This ranking uses verified career records and GOAT Rank's published model. Every listed athlete clears the data eligibility threshold.

#AthleteGOAT Score

8

90.3

Sport: Golf
Career: 1930–1971
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 91.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Ben Hogan

16

89.0

Sport: Golf
Career: 1934–1979
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 96.0

Athlete: Sam Snead

17

88.9

Sport: Golf
Career: 1935–1962
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Patty Berg

18

Kathy Whitworth

88.6

Sport: Golf
Career: 1958–1991
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 94.0

Athlete: Kathy Whitworth

21

88.0

Sport: Golf
Career: 1953–2009
Country: 🇿🇦 South Africa

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 85.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 87.0
Longevity: 94.0

Athlete: Gary Player

26

87.0

Sport: Golf
Career: 1954–2006
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 85.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Arnold Palmer

30

Babe Didrikson Zaharias

86.5

Sport: Golf
Career: 1935–1955
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Babe Didrikson Zaharias

31

86.5

Sport: Golf
Career: 1994–2022
Country: 🇦🇺 Australia

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Karrie Webb

32

86.4

Sport: Golf
Career: 1971–2019
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 85.0
Honours: 85.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Tom Watson

33

86.4

Sport: Golf
Career: 1920–1973
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Gene Sarazen

34

86.3

Sport: Golf
Career: 1912–1940
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 89.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Walter Hagen

37

86.2

Sport: Golf
Career: 2007–active
Country: 🇬🇧 Northern Ireland

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Rory McIlroy

41

85.8

Sport: Golf
Career: 1992–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Phil Mickelson

48

85.2

Sport: Golf
Career: 1932–1946
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 95.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 72.0

Athlete: Byron Nelson

71

84.0

Sport: Golf
Career: 1960–2000
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 87.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Lee Trevino

74

83.9

Sport: Golf
Career: 2006–active
Country: 🇰🇷 South Korea

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Inbee Park

88

83.1

Sport: Golf
Career: 1976–2015
Country: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Nick Faldo

105

Seve Ballesteros

82.4

Sport: Golf
Career: 1974–2007
Country: 🇪🇸 Spain

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 80.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Seve Ballesteros

106

82.4

Sport: Golf
Career: 1982–active
Country: 🇫🇯 Fiji

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 76.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 78.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Vijay Singh

109

82.2

Sport: Golf
Career: 1996–2016
Country: 🇰🇷 South Korea

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Se Ri Pak

120

Scottie Scheffler

81.8

Sport: Golf
Career: 2018–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 66.0

Athlete: Scottie Scheffler

122

81.7

Sport: Golf
Career: 1976–2009
Country: 🇦🇺 Australia

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 74.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Greg Norman

123

81.7

Sport: Golf
Career: 1989–active
Country: 🇿🇦 South Africa

Peak: 84.0
Dominance: 76.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 78.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Ernie Els

150

80.7

Sport: Golf
Career: 2002–2010
Country: 🇲🇽 Mexico

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 68.0

Athlete: Lorena Ochoa

165

79.8

Sport: Golf
Career: 2012–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 70.0

Athlete: Brooks Koepka

169

79.4

Sport: Golf
Career: 2016–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 78.0
Longevity: 66.0

Athlete: Nelly Korda

177

78.9

Sport: Golf
Career: 2016–active
Country: 🇪🇸 Spain

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 78.0
Longevity: 68.0

Athlete: Jon Rahm

198

78.0

Sport: Golf
Career: 1977–2014
Country: 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe

Peak: 84.0
Dominance: 72.0
Statistics: 80.0
Honours: 74.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Nick Price

205

Colin Montgomerie

77.5

Sport: Golf
Career: 1987–active
Country: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 United Kingdom

Peak: 82.0
Dominance: 70.0
Statistics: 80.0
Honours: 72.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Colin Montgomerie

212

77.2

Sport: Golf
Career: 1998–active
Country: 🇸🇪 Sweden

Peak: 84.0
Dominance: 72.0
Statistics: 80.0
Honours: 72.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Henrik Stenson

227

75.7

Sport: Golf
Career: 2007–active
Country: 🇹🇼 Taiwan

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 74.0
Statistics: 80.0
Honours: 76.0
Longevity: 62.0

Athlete: Yani Tseng

257

62.1

Sport: Golf
Career: 2005–active
Country: 🇸🇪 Sweden

Peak: 66.0
Dominance: 56.0
Statistics: 62.0
Honours: 56.0
Longevity: 72.0

Athlete: Alex Norén

258

57.6

Sport: Golf
Career: 2023–active
Country: 🇸🇪 Sweden

Peak: 68.0
Dominance: 58.0
Statistics: 66.0
Honours: 56.0
Longevity: 42.0

Athlete: Ludvig Åberg

#	Athlete	Sport	Country	Career	GOAT Score
8	Ben Hogan	Golf	🇺🇸 United States	1930–1971	90.3
16	Sam Snead	Golf	🇺🇸 United States	1934–1979	89
17	Patty Berg	Golf	🇺🇸 United States	1935–1962	88.9
18	Kathy Whitworth	Golf	🇺🇸 United States	1958–1991	88.6
21	Gary Player	Golf	🇿🇦 South Africa	1953–2009	88
26	Arnold Palmer	Golf	🇺🇸 United States	1954–2006	87
30	Babe Didrikson Zaharias	Golf	🇺🇸 United States	1935–1955	86.5
31	Karrie Webb	Golf	🇦🇺 Australia	1994–2022	86.5
32	Tom Watson	Golf	🇺🇸 United States	1971–2019	86.4
33	Gene Sarazen	Golf	🇺🇸 United States	1920–1973	86.4
34	Walter Hagen	Golf	🇺🇸 United States	1912–1940	86.3
37	Rory McIlroy	Golf	🇬🇧 Northern Ireland	2007–—	86.2
41	Phil Mickelson	Golf	🇺🇸 United States	1992–—	85.8
48	Byron Nelson	Golf	🇺🇸 United States	1932–1946	85.2
71	Lee Trevino	Golf	🇺🇸 United States	1960–2000	84
74	Inbee Park	Golf	🇰🇷 South Korea	2006–—	83.9
88	Nick Faldo	Golf	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	1976–2015	83.1
105	Seve Ballesteros	Golf	🇪🇸 Spain	1974–2007	82.4
106	Vijay Singh	Golf	🇫🇯 Fiji	1982–—	82.4
109	Se Ri Pak	Golf	🇰🇷 South Korea	1996–2016	82.2
120	Scottie Scheffler	Golf	🇺🇸 United States	2018–—	81.8
122	Greg Norman	Golf	🇦🇺 Australia	1976–2009	81.7
123	Ernie Els	Golf	🇿🇦 South Africa	1989–—	81.7
150	Lorena Ochoa	Golf	🇲🇽 Mexico	2002–2010	80.7
165	Brooks Koepka	Golf	🇺🇸 United States	2012–—	79.8
169	Nelly Korda	Golf	🇺🇸 United States	2016–—	79.4
177	Jon Rahm	Golf	🇪🇸 Spain	2016–—	78.9
198	Nick Price	Golf	🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	1977–2014	78
205	Colin Montgomerie	Golf	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 United Kingdom	1987–—	77.5
212	Henrik Stenson	Golf	🇸🇪 Sweden	1998–—	77.2
227	Yani Tseng	Golf	🇹🇼 Taiwan	2007–—	75.7
257	Alex Norén	Golf	🇸🇪 Sweden	2005–—	62.1
258	Ludvig Åberg	Golf	🇸🇪 Sweden	2023–—	57.6

Compare the leaders

Ben Hogan vs Sam Snead

Read the full methodology

Sport lists use the raw In-Sport GOAT Score. Cross-sport lists use the official competition-depth adjustment. No scores are recalculated for this page.

Read the full methodology

Frequently asked questions

How is this ranking calculated?

Five verified components are weighted consistently: dominance, peak, longevity, honours and statistics.

Who is included?

Only verified athletes with sufficient career history, metrics, honours and independent sources are eligible.

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