Speaking of Money ...

by Mulligan Stu on Jan 7, 2008 12:15 PM EST Comment 3 comments

The annual "Golf Digest 50" - the magazine's ranking of the 50 highest earners in golf - appears in the February issue.

You know who No. 1 is. Tiger Woods, once again, hit the $100 million mark in yearly earnings. In 2007, by GD's count, Woods made $22.9 million on the course, $99.8 million off the course, for a total of $122.7 million.

The magazine explains that its figure for on-course earnings includes both official earnings from all the major tours, plus money earned in unofficial events. The off-course tally includes appearance fees, endorsements, outings, licensing fees, architecture, and "businesses that capitalize on the person's status as a player."

The Top 10:

Tiger Woods, $122.7 million
Phil Mickelson, $49.6 million
Vijay Singh, $31.8 million
Ernie Els, $29.7 million
Arnold Palmer, $29.6 million
Greg Norman, $24 million
Jack Nicklaus, $20.9 million
Sergio Garcia, $19 million
Jim Furyk, $15.6 million
Padraig Harrington, $14.2 million

If you remember last year's list, you might have noticed that Michelle Wie, No. 6 in 2006, isn't listed above. But don't worry - Michelle only slipped to No. 12 with earnings of $12.5 million by GD's calculations. She's still the highest-ranked woman, three spots ahead of Annika Sorenstam ($10.1 million). Lorena Ochoa (No. 32, $6.2 million) and Paula Creamer (No. 37, $5.7 million) are the only other women on the list. The threshold for making the Top 50 was "only" $4.2 million; I'm surprised Natalie Gulbis didn't make it.

The biggest debut on the list was Steve Stricker, unranked in 2006 but No. 20 in 2007 with $9.2 million. Justin Rose, also unranked in 2006, was right behind at No. 21 with $9 million.

I'm just happy nobody does a ranking of bloggers' incomes.

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$22.9 ???

Do they list how they come up with these numbers ? How did Tiger more than double his ON course money when he only played a small handful of events outside the US PGA Tour money list. The Target added $1.35 million - but that still leaves almost $10 million.

Are they counting appearance money at the Asian and Middle Eastern tournaments ?

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Jan 7, 2008 3:43 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Me too

I had that reaction too, when I first saw it. But it must be that FedEx Cup bonus money they are adding to the total.

by Mulligan Stu on Jan 7, 2008 4:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

hmmmm

If they are counting that $10 mil now, are they going to recalculate the incresased value next year and add the difference to the 2008 total ?

The FedEx money only turns into actual spending casheesh when he retires after the age of 40 - so if they count it now, they are going to have to hire a mathmatician to figure this out next year and however many prizes he wins until he retires.