Knocked out of the top spot by boxer Floyd Mayweather’s $85 million last year, Woods topped this year’s list at $78.1 million, doubling his prize money with six tournament wins while raking in sponsor bonuses from Rolex and Nike by returning to the No. 1 spot in the World Rankings.
The 14-time Major winning Woods is also on the verge of signing a new deal with Nike that his agent Mark Steinberg said will “emphatically” keep him as golf’s richest endorser.
Woods’ total earnings dropped $16 million from last year to $59.4 million in 2012, which was half of his haul in 2009, his peak year before the scandal that led to his divorce. The loss of sponsors Tag Heuer and Gillette and the sluggishness of his golf course design business, which also picked up this past year, contributed to the decline.
Nike never abandoned Woods during his dark days and Steinberg told ESPN he expected the relationship to last a lifetime.
“Tiger started his professional career with Nike in 1996. He has a long way to go in his career, but I feel with the type of deal we’ve constructed … I feel confident that he will be with Nike for his entire career,” he said.
“This process went as such where I never had to get out in the market to test the waters in a formal way,” Steinberg said. “That’s a good thing, because I think some of the most memorable moments throughout Tiger’s career to date are linked with Nike.”
