LIV Players Climb Forbes Highest Paid List As Dustin Johnson Leads The Way With $107m

The number of golfers in Forbes' Highest Paid Athletes list has quadrupled from three all the way to 12 following the emergence of LIV Golf.

Last year, there were no golfers inside the top 10 but this time around there are two in the top seven and a total of seven in the top 20. Forbes even called out the huge rise seen by golfers.

"The NBA has the most players of any sport with 15, but even more notable is the jump in golfers, a dozen of whom appear among the top 50, four times as many as last year, largely as a result of LIV Golf’s big upfront guarantees," Forbes said.

The list shows golfers' on-and-off-course earnings and the differences between LIV and PGA Tour players truly is stark. LIV players' on-course earnings far outweigh those of their PGA Tour counterparts and it is the complete opposite for off-course endorsements.

Bryson DeChambeau, for example, earned just $1m in endorsements over the past 12 months, while Tiger Woods' off-course earnings were $60m. Phil Mickelson's were just $2m compared to Rory McIlroy's $40m.

Mickelson, who reportedly joined LIV for $200m, had the highest on-course earnings of any golfer over the last year with $104m. Sergio Garcia, who incredibly hasn't won a tournament since October 2020, brought in $46m last year on-course compared to World No.1 Jon Rahm's total of $28m.

Dustin Johnson leads the way for golfers, coming in at sixth on the list with earnings of $107m over the past 12 months. A whopping $102m of that is in 'on-course earnings' while just $5m comes from off-course endorsements. DJ has split with the likes of adidas and RBC since moving to LIV Golf last year but it hasn't hurt his bank balance.

He's $1m ahead of Phil Mickelson for the year, with Lefty in seventh position. Mickelson's off-course earnings were just $2m following splits with the likes of Callaway, KPMG, Workday and Amstel. Despite losing an estimated $40m in sponsorship income, Mickelson made $104m on-course.

His earnings in the previous 12 months were $45.3 million, meaning his move to LIV Golf increased his annual income by just over $60m.

Rory McIlroy places third in the golf list and 15th overall with on-course earnings of $40.8m and off-course earnings of $40m for an $80.8m total. That's over $5m more than Tiger Woods, who picked up $60m off the course and over $15m on it - largely due to his PGA Tour Player Impact Program victory. 

His off-course earnings were said to be $68 million in the previous year, meaning they have gone down by $8m this past 12 months. Woods is in 16th position, closely followed by three LIV Golfers.

Just behind Woods in 17th place is the 150th Open champion Cameron Smith. The Aussie had total earnings of $73m, with $67m coming on-course and $6m coming off of it.

Then comes Brooks Koepka in 18th spot with $72m, made up similarly to Smith with $66m on-course and $6m off-course. Bryson DeChambeau is 20th with just $1m in off-course earnings but $68m on-course for a $69m total for the past 12 months.

World No.1 and Masters champion Jon Rahm follows in 28th spot with $53m earnings. The final golfers in the list are Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler and Sergio Garcia.

Golf rich list - forbes highest paid athletes 2023

Read the full Forbes Highest-Paid Athletes List