The move to the LIV Golf League has deepened the pockets of Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson.
On Tuesday, Forbes announced its list of the top-10 highest-paid athletes of 2023, and Johnson and Mickelson each make an appearance. That shouldn’t be a surprise, considering LIV is funded by the Public Investment Fund in Saudi Arabia and each golfer got huge signing bonuses when deciding to leave the PGA Tour and join the breakaway circuit.
However, that additional money has them being compensated with the likes of the most elite athletes in the world.
Johnson is sixth on the list, earning $107 million this year. All but $5 million of that is from on-course earnings. Last year, Forbes reported Johnson made $29 million off the field, but sponsors weren’t too keen with Johnson and others signing with LIV Golf.
Johnson made a LIV-best $35.6 million in prize money, including $18 million for winning the season-long individual championship.
Mickelson comes in seventh on the list, earning $106 million. All but $2 million came in on-course earnings. He earned $1.6 million for his T-2 at the Masters last month. He ranked 31st on last year’s list with $45.3 million earned.
Topping the list is soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, with Lionel Messi in second and Kylian Mbappe in third.
Behind Mickelson in eighth is basketball star Stephen Curry.
