Ranking the top 10 best golfers of all time as Nicklaus v Woods GOAT debate settled

Golf may be an easy sport to pick up, but it's hard to master, and these ten professionals did it better than anybody else.

The 2026 Masters Tournament will provide the field of over 90 players with the opportunity to write their names into the history books and claim the famous green jacket that only a select few can wear.

Last year, Rory McIlroy did just that as the Northern Irishman finally ended his 14-year wait for a win at Augusta National, becoming the only European to complete the career Grand Slam.

In doing so, McIlroy immediately entered himself into the conversations surrounding the greatest golfers of all time, something that has been debated amongst fans for decades.

There is a lot to consider when naming the best golfers of all time, especially when comparing players from different eras, but whether it is in the beautiful Georgian sunshine at Augusta National or the challenging conditions at Royal Portrush, these 10 players have shown why they are the very best.

Rory McIlroy finally won The Masters in 2025. (Image: Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

10th – Walter Hagen

Hagen is a difficult man to place when considering the greatest of all time simply due to the era that he played in.

With 11 major titles, there's no doubt that Hagen was a fantastic player, but nine of those wins came during the 1920s and winning five PGA Championships is a completely different feat now than it was in his time.

Professional golf just wasn't at the same level it is now back in Hagen's day, but having also won five Western Opens, another prestigious event at the time, Hagen dominated the sport and cannot be ignored.

9th – Phil Mickelson

Admittedly, it's hard to know if Mickelson deserves to be on here, but he does so thanks to a longevity that has seen him keep his spot in the Official Golf World Ranking's top 50 list for over 25 years consecutively.

His six major wins span from 2004 through 2021, with the 2021 PGA Championship victory making him the oldest player to win a major.

On top of this, the American has 45 PGA Tour victories and 12 Ryder Cup appearances, more than any other player, showing that he has performed at the very top of the sport for decades.

8th – Rory McIlroy

McIlroy's win at Augusta National last year is one that golf fans across the world will remember for the rest of their lives.

For years it was said that he would never be able to claim the evasive career Grand Slam, but in 2025 he did just that in dramatic fashion, ending an 11-year drought with his fifth major win.

Add to this the fact that he's spent more than 100 weeks as world number one at several stages of his career, and McIlroy's place amongst the greatest is secured.

Although he's not yet reached the heights of some of his peers, at just 36 years old, the Northern Irish legend still has a long time yet to climb the ranks.

7th – Gary Player

Player is one of those athletes that when you think of golf, for better of for worse, you think of Gary Player.

Across his career, the South African picked up 24 PGA Tour wins and nine Majors, becoming both the youngest player and the first non-American to complete the career Grand Slam, doing so at the 1965 U.S. Open

6th – Arnold Palmer

As possibly the the most popular golfer of all time, Palmer is another man who should always be include among the best to ever pick up a club.

Palmer had 62 Tour victories, with seven major wins, four of which came at Augusta National, leading to some quipping that he mastered the Masters.

Amazingly, all of Palmer’s major victories came within a seven-year span (1958-1964), showing a complete domination of the sport during that time period.

And perhaps most importantly, his modest attitude and pride of his working-class background helped transform golf into a much more inclusive sport that is now played by millions.

Gary Player and Arnold Palmer were two thirds of the 'big three' alongside fellow legend Jack Nicklaus. (Image: Chris Condon/PGA TOUR)

5th – Sam Snead

A storied career spanning nearly half a century shows that Snead enjoyed the greatest longevity of any top golfer in history.

With an incredible total of 82, no other player has secured more PGA Tour victories than the Virginia-born golfer, although there is one who managed to match it.

In total, Snead secured 142 professional victories during his career and managed to compete in 44 consecutive editions of The Masters.

Although some players may appear to be more impressive than Snead, it's unlikely any will match 'The Slammer’s' longevity, with many of the records picked up along the way in with a good chance of remaining for many years to come.

4th – Bobby Jones

Despite essentially retiring from competitive golf at just 28 years old, Jones is still regarded by many as trailblazer of the sport and one of the best of all time.

Jones played in 31 major championships and won 13 of them, forever becoming the only player to complete a pre-Masters Grand Slam after winning all four titles in one year in 1930.

Two months later, Jones retired and went on to practice law in Atlanta, but he will forever be remembered for founding the now world-renowned Augusta National Golf Club and, in 1934, starting the The Masters.

3rd – Ben Hogan

Regarded as many as the best ball-striker of all time, Hogan takes the spot as the 'best of the rest' with two big names still to come.

Like others of this list, Hogan is one of only six players who have won all four Majors, despite only making one appearance at the Open Championship.

To make this even more impressive, Hogan remains the only player to win The Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship in the same year, 1953.

But perhaps his biggest feat was coming back to claims six of his nine Major wins after he was involved in a terrifying near-fatal car crash after which he was told he may never walk again.

Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are undoubtedly the two greatest golfers of all time. (Image: JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images)

2nd – Jack Nicklaus

As the most decorated player in the history of golf, Nicklaus is undoubtedly in the top two and anybody could argue he deserves to be on top.

Throughout his 73 PGA Tour wins, Nicklaus, picked up 18 Major victories, more than any other player in the history of the sport, and finished runner-up another 19 times in majors.

On top of this, the golf legend has won a record six Masters titles and has an insane 56 top-five major finishes.

And when it comes to longevity, he's hard to beat with his first and last major wins coming 24 years apart—the 1962 U.S. Open and 1986 Masters.

With so many world-class players in today's game, it's not likely we will ever see someone surpass Nicklaus' major record, ensuring that his name will forever remain in the GOAT conversation.

1st – Tiger Woods

Although he has three lass major wins than Nicklaus, Woods takes the top spot as the best golfer of all time.

With 82 PGA Tour wins, five Masters, four PGA Championships, three US Opens, three Open Championships, two FedEx Cups and many other accolades, there is simply nobody quite like Woods.

Each of his Tour wins came amid a much more challenging pack than others on this list and yet he maintains the lowest career scoring average in Tour history and is the only player in the modern era to ever win four consecutive majors, picking up 10 player of the year awards in the process.

Nicklaus may have achieved more and had the better career but Woods played the best golf, inspiring millions in the process.

As crazy as it sounds, Woods didn't even reach his full potential, with injuries holding him back from ensuring he's remembered, not only as the greatest golfer of all time, but as one of the greatest athletes of all time.