Bloomberg

Tiger Woods has made almost $128 million in prize money and endorsements over the past year, more than twice as much as any other US professional athlete, according to Sports Illustrated.

The world’s No. 1 golfer tops SI.com’s “Fortunate 50” list of the highest-earning US athletes, raking in $22.9 million in winnings and another $105 million in endorsements. Woods, 32, has earned almost $800 million over his 13-year career and may become the first billion-dollar athlete, according to SI.com.

Fellow golfer Phil Mickelson is second at $62.4 million, followed by basketball player LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. James made almost $40.5 million in the past year, including $28 million from endorsement deals, and is one of 26 National Basketball Association (NBA) players in the “Fortunate 50,” the most of any sport.

Boxer Floyd Mayweather ranks fourth with $40.3 million in earnings, followed by NBA players Kobe Bryant ($35.5 million) and Shaquille O’Neal ($35 million).

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is the top-earning Major League Baseball player and ranks seventh on SI.com’s list at $35 million.

Kevin Garnett, whose Boston Celtics are playing Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, is eighth with $31 million, while Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is ninth and the highest-earning National Football League (NFL) player at $30.5 million. Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter completes the top 10 with $30 million in salary and endorsements.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the top-earning racecar driver among US athletes and ranks 11th overall with $27.2 million—$5.2 million from winnings and $22 million from endorsements. His total was almost $20 million less than the winnings and sponsorship money received by Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland, who ranks second in SI.com’s list of top-earning athletes from outside the US, with $46 million, after soccer player David Beckham.

Woods No. 1 last five years

Woods has topped the list each of the five years it’s been published by Sports Illustrated. The magazine uses data from the current or most recently completed basketball and baseball seasons, and the coming 2008 season for the NFL. Winnings for individual sports, such as tennis and auto racing, are from 2007. All endorsement and appearance income is for this year.

Beckham tops the list of highest-paid non-US athletes. The Englishman pulled in $48.2 million in salary and endorsements after his switch to Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy from Real Madrid and ranks third worldwide in total earnings behind Woods and Mickelson.

Other non-US athletes to make more than $30 million in salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearance fees include F1 driver Fernando Alonso ($40 million); soccer players Ronaldinho ($37.5 million), Lionel Messi ($35.8 million) and Cristiano Ronaldo ($30.3 million); tennis player Roger Federer ($35.1 million); motorcycle racer Valentino Rossi ($34 million) and basketball player Yao Ming ($31.8 million).

Top of the world

PARIS—Two young women have become the world’s newest Grand Slam titlist, and they’ll share the world’s No. 1 ranking beginning next week.

Woods tops SI.com’s list of top-earning US athletes

Tiger Woods has made almost $128 million in prize money and endorsements over the past year, more than twice as much as any other US professional athlete, according to Sports Illustrated.

BOSTON—The burden of a franchise sits on Kobe Bryant’s shoulders, the pressure escalating since the shots began missing toward the end of Game One.

Philippine participation in the Jones Cup in Taiwan in July remained in limbo over the weekend, but Junel Baculi, who was tasked to coach the Harbour Centre-backed team, would start putting the national squad together this week.

PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee (POC) president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. is batting for a Cabinet portfolio for the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) so that it would have a stronger voice in the government setup.

FORWARD TAGUIG extended its hot streak to take solo second place by thumping Makati, 14-0, Sunday in the Baseball Philippines Series III at the Rizal Memorial Ballpark.

FILIPINO Olympian Eric Ang came up one point short of the finals of the trap shooting event of the 2008 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup from June 4 to 6 in Seul, Germany.

WHEN you arrive in Iloilo via plane, right outside the airport is a queue of jeepneys and buses that ply routes of just about everywhere in this West Visayas port. If you ask any driver how to get to Barotac Nuevo, almost inevitably, he’ll ask if you’re here to watch football. He knows you’re a tourist because you don’t speak Illongo; for if you did, you wouldn’t be asking.