Despite Not Playing in a Tournament, Tiger Woods Was 10th Highest-Paid Athlete in 2021

Tiger Woods had a rough 2021, starting the year with a single-car auto accident in California that left him with leg injuries so severe that amputation was a possibility.

The silver lining in Woods’ dark cloud of a year, however, was that he didn’t have to lift a golf club and was still the 10^th highest-paid athlete in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Tiger Woods (@tigerwoods)

According to figures compiled by Sportico, Woods earned $8.5 million in salary/winnings and an additional $65 million in endorsements, equaling $73.5 million, $200,000 more than Super Bowl-winning quarterback Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams. LeBron James led the list at $126.9 million and was followed by three soccer players—Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Neymar—and boxer Canelo Alvarez was fifth at $89 million.

After Woods, the next golfer on the list was Rory McIlroy in 39^th place at $38.4 million and Phil Mickelson at 44^th with $37.1 million. The only other golfer in the top 100 was Jordan Spieth at 85^th with $31.3 million in total earnings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Tiger Woods (@tigerwoods)

Woods should trump that figure in 2022, as he already played in the Masters and is expected to play in next week’s PGA Championship and July’s Open Championship at St. Andrew’s.

Here’s a look at Tiger taking on Southern Hills in Oklahoma prior to next week’s major.

Cover Image Via The Spun