Back in the day, Tiger Woods claimed the top position of every prestigious golf list. He commonly would also hold the same position when golfers were compared with other sporting athletes. However, that had been lacking for the last few years. Nonetheless, in a new list of highest-paid athletes of 2022, Tiger found himself in familiar territory.
Woods has been the face of golf for nearly two decades. Apart from his dominance in the sport, the 15-time Major winner also enjoyed prize money and enormous endorsement deals with some of the biggest brands. Thanks to this, he still finds himself on the list of the rich.
Earlier this year, Forbes announced that Woods became the first golfer to have Billionaire status. Nonetheless, his earnings on the course in recent years have lessened considerably. According to the recent list released by Sportico of the 100 highest-paid athletes of 2022, Tiger only earned $8.5 million on the course.
Although Tiger Woods returned to a list that he is quite familiar with, many were surprised to not see any LIV Golf star despite the high earnings publicly mentioned. The second golfer on the list was Tiger’s PGA Tour buddy Rory McIlroy. The world number one was placed at 39th position with $38.4 million in total earnings.
Similar to Sportico’s list, Forbes too had released a list of the highest-paid golfers earlier this year. Unlike the current list, LIV Golf stars dominated the rich list of Forbes. Phil Mickelson topped it, with total earnings of $138 million.
Phil was followed by fellow defectors such as Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, and many others. Though no specific reason can be pointed out, as per reports, there have been questions revolving around LIV Golf’s on-course prize money and also the player’s contracts.