Who is the greatest Golf Athlete of all time?

Jack Nicklaus leads Golf with a verified GOAT Score of 95.0/100.

How is the Golf GOAT ranking calculated?

Five verified categories are weighted against 265 reference records. Only eligible profiles receive a score.

How many Golf golfers are ranked?

259 eligible Golf athletes currently have a published GOAT Score, from 265 reference records.

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Golf: the greatest of all time

GOAT Rank's data-driven ranking

Majors, weeks at world No. 1 and strokes gained relative to the field. Each golfers below is scored on verified career data and normalised against the full Golf reference cohort — no shortlists, no unverified provisional numbers.

Quick answer

According to GOAT Rank's current model, Jack Nicklaus is the highest-ranked of the golfers in Golf, with an in-sport GOAT Score of 95.0. Next are Tiger Woods (94.4), Annika Sörenstam (92.8).

How the GOAT Score is calculated →

6 records fall below the data threshold and are excluded from this ranking. Eligibility rules →

Showing 259 of 259 ranked golfers# = official in-sport rank

Category

DisciplineCountryEraStatusSort

#	Athlete	Era	Major championships	PGA Tour wins	Weeks at world No. 1	Player of the Year awards	Career prize money (M$)	GOAT
1	🇺🇸Jack NicklausRetired	1961–1986	18	73	0	5	5.7	95.0
2	🇺🇸Tiger WoodsActive	1996–present	15	82	683	11	120.9	94.4
3	🇸🇪Annika SörenstamRetired	1992–2008	—	—	—	8	—	92.8
4	🇺🇸Hale IrwinRetired	1968–2015	—	20	—	—	—	90.9
5	🇺🇸Mickey WrightRetired	1955–1973	—	—	—	—	—	90.7
6	🇬🇧J.H. TaylorRetired	1893–1926	—	—	—	—	—	90.6
7	🇺🇸Billy CasperRetired	1954–1985	—	51	—	—	—	90.5
8	🇺🇸Ben HoganRetired	1930–1971	—	64	—	—	—	90.3
9	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿James BraidRetired	1894–1927	—	—	—	—	—	90.1
10	🇿🇦Bobby LockeRetired	1936–1975	—	15	—	—	—	89.9
11	🇺🇸Raymond FloydRetired	1963–2000	—	22	—	—	—	89.7
12	🇺🇸Dustin JohnsonActive	2007–present	2	24	—	—	—	89.3
13	🇪🇸Sergio GarcíaActive	1999–present	—	11	—	—	—	89.2
14	🇦🇷Roberto De VicenzoRetired	1938–1985	—	—	—	—	—	89.2
15	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Old Tom MorrisRetired	1851–1896	—	—	—	—	—	89.1
16	🇺🇸Sam SneadRetired	1934–1979	—	82	—	—	—	89.0
17	🇺🇸Patty BergRetired	1935–1962	—	—	—	—	—	88.9
18	🇺🇸Kathy WhitworthRetired	1958–1991	—	—	—	—	—	88.6
19	🇯🇪Harry VardonRetired	1890–1930	—	—	—	—	—	88.6
20	🇬🇧Henry CottonRetired	1926–1957	—	—	—	—	—	88.4
21	🇿🇦Gary PlayerRetired	1953–2009	—	—	—	—	—	88.0
22	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿John BallRetired	1888–1921	—	—	—	—	—	87.7
23	🇯🇵Masashi OzakiRetired	1970–2019	—	—	—	—	—	87.5
24	🇺🇸Jim FurykActive	1992–present	—	17	—	—	—	87.5
25	🇯🇵Jumbo OzakiRetired	1970–2010	—	—	—	—	—	87.4
26	🇺🇸Arnold PalmerRetired	1954–2006	—	62	—	—	—	87.0
27	🇺🇸Bobby JonesRetired	1916–1930	—	—	—	—	—	86.9
28	🇯🇵Hideki MatsuyamaActive	2013–present	—	11	—	—	—	86.9
29	🇺🇸Doug FordRetired	1949–2001	—	19	—	—	—	86.8
30	🇺🇸Babe Didrikson ZahariasRetired	1935–1955	—	—	—	—	—	86.5
31	🇦🇺Karrie WebbRetired	1994–2022	—	—	—	—	—	86.5
32	🇺🇸Tom WatsonRetired	1971–2019	—	39	—	—	—	86.4
33	🇺🇸Gene SarazenRetired	1920–1973	—	39	—	—	—	86.4
34	🇺🇸Walter HagenRetired	1912–1940	—	45	—	—	—	86.3
35	🇬🇧Bob FergusonRetired	1866–1890	—	—	—	—	—	86.3
36	🇬🇧Jamie AndersonRetired	1870–1886	—	—	—	—	—	86.3
37	🇬🇧Rory McIlroyActive	2007–present	—	28	—	—	—	86.2
38	🇺🇸Pat BradleyRetired	1974–1995	—	—	—	1	—	86.1
39	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Jim BarnesRetired	1912–1937	—	—	—	—	—	86.1
40	🇺🇸Sandra HaynieRetired	1961–1989	—	—	—	—	—	86.0
41	🇺🇸Phil MickelsonActive	1992–present	—	45	—	—	—	85.8
42	🇿🇦Retief GoosenActive	1990–present	—	7	—	—	—	85.6
43	🇬🇧George DuncanRetired	1908–1937	—	—	—	—	—	85.6
44	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Willie AndersonRetired	1897–1910	—	—	—	—	—	85.5
45	🇦🇷Eduardo RomeroRetired	1982–2015	—	—	—	—	—	85.4
46	🇺🇸Julius BorosRetired	1949–1975	—	18	—	—	—	85.4
47	🇺🇸Cary MiddlecoffRetired	1947–1961	—	40	—	—	—	85.3
48	🇺🇸Byron NelsonRetired	1932–1946	—	52	—	—	—	85.2
49	🇺🇸Carol MannRetired	1961–1981	—	—	—	—	—	85.2
50	🇺🇸Johnny GoodmanRetired	1927–1950	—	—	—	—	—	85.2

1–50 of 259 athletes

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Compare top two: Nicklaus vs Woods

Top 10 Golf golfers of all time

The ten highest verified GOAT Scores across every era.

1🇺🇸Jack Nicklaus1961–198695.0
2🇺🇸Tiger Woods1996–present94.4
3🇸🇪Annika Sörenstam1992–200892.8
4🇺🇸Hale Irwin1968–201590.9
5🇺🇸Mickey Wright1955–197390.7
6🇬🇧J.H. Taylor1893–192690.6
7🇺🇸Billy Casper1954–198590.5
8🇺🇸Ben Hogan1930–197190.3
9🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿James Braid1894–192790.1
10🇿🇦Bobby Locke1936–197589.9

By position

Stroke play

1🇺🇸Jack Nicklaus1961–198695.0
2🇺🇸Tiger Woods1996–present94.4

Professional golfer

1🇺🇸Hale Irwin1968–201590.9
2🇬🇧J.H. Taylor1893–192690.6
3🇺🇸Billy Casper1954–198590.5
4🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿James Braid1894–192790.1
5🇿🇦Bobby Locke1936–197589.9

Professional

1🇺🇸Ben Hogan1930–197190.3
2🇺🇸Sam Snead1934–197989.0
3🇺🇸Patty Berg1935–196288.9
4🇺🇸Kathy Whitworth1958–199188.6
5🇿🇦Gary Player1953–200988.0

Golfer

1🇪🇸Sergio García1999–present89.2
2🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Old Tom Morris1851–189689.1
3🇬🇧Henry Cotton1926–195788.4
4🇯🇵Masashi Ozaki1970–201987.5
5🇺🇸Jim Furyk1992–present87.5

By country

United States

1🇺🇸Jack Nicklaus1961–198695.0
2🇺🇸Tiger Woods1996–present94.4
3🇺🇸Hale Irwin1968–201590.9
4🇺🇸Mickey Wright1955–197390.7
5🇺🇸Billy Casper1954–198590.5

Sweden

1🇸🇪Annika Sörenstam1992–200892.8
2🇸🇪Peter Hanson1998–201981.2
3🇸🇪Anna Nordqvist2009–present80.1
4🇸🇪Joakim Haeggman1989–201578.5
5🇸🇪Robert Karlsson1989–present78.3

United Kingdom

1🇬🇧J.H. Taylor1893–192690.6
2🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Old Tom Morris1851–189689.1
3🇬🇧Henry Cotton1926–195788.4
4🇬🇧Bob Ferguson1866–189086.3
5🇬🇧Jamie Anderson1870–188686.3

Scotland

1🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿James Braid1894–192790.1
2🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Willie Anderson1897–191085.5
3🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Tommy Armour1920–193584.8
4🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Young Tom Morris1865–187584.5
5🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Sandy Lyle1977–202083.5

South Africa

1🇿🇦Bobby Locke1936–197589.9
2🇿🇦Gary Player1953–200988.0
3🇿🇦Retief Goosen1990–present85.6
4🇿🇦Ernie Els1989–present81.7
5🇿🇦Louis Oosthuizen2002–present79.1

Spain

1🇪🇸Sergio García1999–present89.2
2🇪🇸Seve Ballesteros1974–200782.4
3🇪🇸Jon Rahm2016–present78.9
4🇪🇸José María Olazábal1985–present78.6

Argentina

1🇦🇷Roberto De Vicenzo1938–198589.2
2🇦🇷Eduardo Romero1982–201585.4
3🇦🇷Ángel Cabrera1989–present85.1
4🇦🇷Emiliano Grillo2011–present78.7

England

1🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿John Ball1888–192187.7
2🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Jim Barnes1912–193786.1
3🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Harold Hilton1890–191384.5
4🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Laura Davies1985–present83.0
5🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Tony Jacklin1963–199482.7

By era

1880s

1🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿John Ball1888–192187.7
2🇬🇧Sandy Herd1885–193081.9
3🇬🇧Willie Fernie1880–190081.5
4🇬🇧David Brown1886–190579.8
5🇬🇧Jack Burns1880–189578.2

1890s

1🇬🇧J.H. Taylor1893–192690.6
2🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿James Braid1894–192790.1
3🇯🇪Harry Vardon1890–193088.6
4🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Willie Anderson1897–191085.5
5🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Harold Hilton1890–191384.5

1910s

1🇺🇸Bobby Jones1916–193086.9
2🇺🇸Walter Hagen1912–194086.3
3🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Jim Barnes1912–193786.1
4🇺🇸Jock Hutchison1910–193581.9
5🇺🇸Willie Macfarlane1919–194075.7

1920s

1🇬🇧Henry Cotton1926–195788.4
2🇺🇸Gene Sarazen1920–197386.4
3🇺🇸Johnny Goodman1927–195085.2
4🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Tommy Armour1920–193584.8
5🇺🇸Johnny Farrell1922–195082.4

1930s

1🇺🇸Ben Hogan1930–197190.3
2🇿🇦Bobby Locke1936–197589.9
3🇦🇷Roberto De Vicenzo1938–198589.2
4🇺🇸Sam Snead1934–197989.0
5🇺🇸Patty Berg1935–196288.9

1950s

1🇺🇸Mickey Wright1955–197390.7
2🇺🇸Billy Casper1954–198590.5
3🇺🇸Kathy Whitworth1958–199188.6
4🇿🇦Gary Player1953–200988.0
5🇺🇸Arnold Palmer1954–200687.0

1960s

1🇺🇸Jack Nicklaus1961–198695.0
2🇺🇸Hale Irwin1968–201590.9
3🇺🇸Raymond Floyd1963–200089.7
4🇺🇸Sandra Haynie1961–198986.0
5🇺🇸Carol Mann1961–198185.2

1970s

1🇯🇵Masashi Ozaki1970–201987.5
2🇯🇵Jumbo Ozaki1970–201087.4
3🇺🇸Tom Watson1971–201986.4
4🇺🇸Pat Bradley1974–199586.1
5🇦🇺Jan Stephenson1973–200385.1

1990s

1🇺🇸Tiger Woods1996–present94.4
2🇸🇪Annika Sörenstam1992–200892.8
3🇪🇸Sergio García1999–present89.2
4🇺🇸Jim Furyk1992–present87.5
5🇦🇺Karrie Webb1994–202286.5

2000s

1🇺🇸Dustin Johnson2007–present89.3
2🇬🇧Rory McIlroy2007–present86.2
3🇦🇺Jason Day2006–present84.4
4🇺🇸Zach Johnson2003–present84.4
5🇰🇷Inbee Park2006–present83.9

By country · By position · By era

Golf GOAT debates

The closest calls in the ranking, with a full side-by-side breakdown.

Nicklaus vs Woods· Nicklaus ranks higher at 95.0 versus Woods at 94.4, a margin of 0.6 points.Woods vs Sörenstam· Woods ranks higher at 94.4 versus Sörenstam at 92.8, a margin of 1.6 points.Sörenstam vs Irwin· Sörenstam ranks higher at 92.8 versus Irwin at 90.9, a margin of 1.9 points.Irwin vs Wright· Irwin ranks higher at 90.9 versus Wright at 90.7, a margin of 0.2 points.Wright vs Taylor· Wright ranks higher at 90.7 versus Taylor at 90.6, a margin of 0.1 points.

How the Golf ranking works

Every athlete is scored on five verified components — Dominance (25%), Peak (20%), Longevity (20%), Honours (20%) and Statistics (15%) — normalised against the full Golf reference cohort rather than a shortlist. A record only receives a published score once it is editorially verified and complete: a season-by-season series, at least three career metrics, documented honours and independent sources. Read the full methodology.

Golf GOAT — frequently asked

Who is the greatest Golf Athlete of all time?: Jack Nicklaus leads Golf with a verified GOAT Score of 95.0/100.
How is the Golf GOAT ranking calculated?: Five verified categories are weighted against 265 reference records. Only eligible profiles receive a score.
How many Golf golfers are ranked?: 259 eligible Golf athletes currently have a published GOAT Score, from 265 reference records.