Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson Crack Top 10 on Forbes’ Highest-Paid Athletes List

The Forbes list of the top 50 highest-paid athletes in 2022 came out on Tuesday, and it includes two notable LIV golfers inside the top 10.

Dustin Johnson came in at No. 6 with a total of $107 million in earnings, while Phil Mickelson was next at No. 7 with $106 million.

Out of the entire list of 50 international athletes, Johnson and Mickelson blow the rest of the field out of the water in “on-the-field” earnings. Only four athletes earned $100 million or more on the field, with Mickelson’s $104 million leading the way and Johnson’s $102 million at No 2.

This is quite the jump for both golfers on the list as Johnson sat at No. 29 on last year’s list with $40.4 million total earnings. Mickelson didn’t make the top 50.

It makes sense for LIV golfers to dominate the Forbes list as their contracts and purse amounts are staggering.

With the LIV Golf drama that went down last year, Mickelson and Johnson both lost various sponsorships. This caused their “off-the-field” earnings to plummet: Johnson earned $5 million in partnerships, and Mickelson made $2 million.

The top PGA Tour golfers on the list are Rory McIlroy at No. 15 with $80.8 million total earnings, and Tiger Woods at No. 16 with $75.1 million. Even though Woods only played in three tournaments last year (the Masters, PGA Championship and the Open Championship), his earnings stayed relatively the same from 2021 when he finished with $62.2 million. McIlroy didn’t make the previous top 50.

Other notable LIV golfers who made the top 50 include Cameron Smith at No. 17 ($73 million), Brooks Koepka at No. 18 ($72 million), Bryson DeChambeau at No. 20 ($69 million), Patrick Reed tied at No. 32 ($52 million) and Sergio Garcia tied at No. 46 ($46 million).

Other notable PGA Tour golfers who made the list include Jon Rahm tied at No. 28 ($53 million), Jordan Spieth at No. 43 ($47.5 million) and Scottie Scheffler at No. 45 ($47.1 million)