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SALT LAKE CITY — Tiger Woods will be going for his 15th major golf championship next week at Merion Golf Club.
Tiger is currently four majors behind Jack Nicklaus' record of 18. However, when it comes to major money, no athlete has more of it than Tiger.
Tiger again is number one on the golf course and the money world when it comes to highest paid athletes according to Forbes magazine.
Tiger made $78.1 million over the last year. More than $13 million in prize money, $65 million in endorsements, appearance fees and golf course design. Tiger spent 11 straight years at the top of the Forbes list until dropping to third last year.
Tennis star Roger Federer comes in second earning $71.1 million while Kobe Bryant sits in third at $61.9 million.
It is hard for me to believe that LeBron James with all of his success the last five years comes in at the fourth spot earning $59.8 million. Maybe LeBron needs to have a chat with his marketing people.
The highest paid player in the NFL is Saints QB Drew Brees at number five on the list.
Last year's highest paid athlete, boxer Floyd Mayweather is 14th this year.
No member of the Utah Jazz made the list of top 100 paid athletes, however, former Jazz point guard Deron Williams ranks 80th with $19.2 million. Over $17 million of that is his salary and the rest endorsements.
Major League baseball has the most athletes on the list with 27, led by Alex Rodriguez at No. 18 with $30.3 million.
Basketball has 21 on the list, football 13 and soccer 12.
The oldest on the list is golfer Ernie Els. The ‘Big Easy' is 43 years old and ranks 78th with $19.5 million.
The top female on the list is tennis star Maria Sharapova with $29 million. She had $6 million in winnings and $23 million in endorsements. Her total could go up as on Thursday, she advanced to the finals at the French Open.
This list only includes athletes that have been active in the last 12 months, otherwise Michael Jordan would beat everybody as his ‘Airness' earned $80 million this past year thanks in large part to his royalties from the nearly $2 billion in sales of his Nike owned Jordan Brand.
