Out of all the ways to get rich as a professional athlete, golf might be the best. Think about it. Professional golfers travel all over the world to exclusive and beautiful courses where they get paid tons of money to play a leisurely game. Obviously being a pro-golfer takes a fair amount of athletic ability and skill, but at the end of the day you are just walking around and swinging a club. Sometimes you're not even walking, you're driving in a cart! Another reason golf is a great sport to make money is the fact that your career can last not just a few years but potentially decades. Tiger Woods turned pro back in 1996 at the age of 21 and is still arguably one of golf's top players. Phil Mickelson is 42 years old and, assuming nothing drastic happens, is on pace to win the 2013 US Open championship. 24 year old Irish sensation Rory McIlroy earned $33 million last year in salary and endorsements.
The one downside of golf is that you don't exactly earn a set guaranteed salary from a team. Golfers earn money by winning tournaments and endorsing products and for a top golfer, endorsements can be far more lucrative than actually sinking putts. For example, in 2012 Phil Mickelson earned $45.3 million, of which only $5.3 million came from actually playing golf! So who are the the top 20 all time money earners in golf? Keep reading to find out!
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- #1: Tiger Woods – $119,813,333
- #2: Phil Mickelson – $75,867,106
- #3: Vijay Singh – $67,491,796
- #4: Jim Furyk – $53,704,653
- #5: Ernie Els – $45,313,061
- #6: Davis Love III – $42,336,990
- #7: David Toms – $39,124,289
- #8: Steve Stricker – $37,056,701
- #9: Justin Leonard – $32,368,345
- #10: Sergio Garcia – $31,939,217
- #11: Kenny Perry – $31,830,031
- #12: Stewart Cink – $31,492,424
- #13: Adam Scott – $30,634,003
- #14: Luke Donald – $29,901,123
- #15: K.J. Choi – $28,093,942
- #16: Retief Goosen – $27,841,344
- #17: Scott Verplank – $27,441,447
- #18: Zach Johnson – $27,175,466
- #19: Stuart Appleby – $26,937,547
- #20: Mike Weir – $26,908,777
