With its origins dating back to the 17th century, golf is one of the oldest sports in the world. The place of origin is still debatable because people generally have different opinions and theories, but the most common ones connect the sport to Scotland. Although it is nowhere near the popularity of football or basketball, golf still has its audience and admirers. The game is played by more than 60 million people around the globe.
Due to its nature, golf attracts wealthy people and money is certainly very much involved in golf tournaments, especially the biggest ones. You all probably know everything about salaries and paychecks in football or American football, but do you know who the most popular golfers in the world are? Keep reading and find out because we have created this nice little list for you with the help of Newjerseysafebetting. The numbers you will see represent the estimated net worth of each of the listed golfers.
5 – Jordan Spieth - $100 million
Jordan revealed his immense talent as a teenager when he won the US Junior Amateur tournament on two occasions, in 2009 and 2011 respectively. For context, Tiger Woods is the only other player with two titles at this competition. Spieth has managed to translate this talent and junior successes into a phenomenal professional career. He has achieved so much since then, including a superb 36-hole record at the 2015 Masters. He made as much as $42 million only from 2017 to 2018.
4 – Rory McIlroy - $130 million
Rory is one of the best European golfers of all time. He visited golf courses in Northern Ireland as an 18-month-old baby as his father was a massive admirer of the sport. Rory showed talent on an amateur level before turning professional in 2007. Among bountiful highlights in his career, we have to mention the participation at the Ryders Cup where he defended Europe's colors for the No 1 position in the Official World Golf Standings. Last but not least, McIlroy is one of only four players to have won three major championships before turning 25 years of age.
3 – Phil Mickelson - $400 million
Phil is one of the golfers who made fortune on the basis of his outstanding and exciting character on top of the obvious talent. Mickelson was born in California and had a remarkable college career, winning three back-to-back Haskins Awards for being the best college player of the year (back from 1990 to 1992). Only one man (we will discuss him below in the article) has managed to collect more money in tournament winnings than Phil Mickelson who made $87 million in tournament rewards. The rest of his whopping fortune came from huge sponsorship deals, including those with Rolex, Ford, and KPMG among others.
4 – Arnold Palmer - $700 million
Anyone who has ever seen a golf tournament should know about Arnold Palmer. The man has designed more than 300 golf courses around the planet. He has won seven majors and as many as 62 PGA Tour competitions. Much like the case is with Mickelson, Arnold’s net worth comes more from hefty endorsement deals with some of the strongest brands in the world, including Cadillac, Sears, MasterCard, etc.
1 – Tiger Woods - $800 million
You all knew the top spot was reserved for Tiger Woods, right? It just had to be because he is the most successful and famous player in the history of the sport. When you ask a stranger to name one professional golf player, their answer will almost always be Tiger Woods. We can’t say any player is bigger than the sport, but if anyone is close to something like that, it is this man. Tiger was generally the highest-earning celebrity on the planet for years. No other player comes close to the number of weeks as the World No 1 to Tiger Woods. He has won 5 Masters titles, 41 European Tour trophies, and 81 PGA Tour victories.