Jordan Spieth usurps Tiger Woods at top of golf’s rich list with $53m in earnings for the year
Tiger Woods has been usurped at the top of golf's rich list for the first time in 13 years, falling behind both Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth in a ranking of the sport's highest earners.
The legendary 14-time major champion has topped Golf Digest's annual earners' list every year since its inception in 2003 but poor form in 2015 resulted in the worst annual on-course earnings of his career to date.
Woods earned just $551,098 (£380,960) in prize money after failing to win a single tournament and finishing in the top 10 just once.
Yet he still pocketed a further $48m thanks to the strength of his personal brand which includes long-term Nike endorsement thought to be worth $25m a year.
Read more: Spieth breaks prize money record
Spieth's breakthrough season at the summit of the sport in which he won the Masters and US Open saw him break the PGA Tour prize money record with on-course earnings of $23m.
Paired with off course earnings of $30m, the Texan topped Golf Digest's list with an annual take-home of $53m.
And Spieth's commercial prowess continues to grow after signing a multiyear deal with Coca-Cola said to be one of the biggest the company has ever handed an athlete.
Yet the 22-year-old still has a few more years of success before he can get close to Woods' $1.4bn career earnings.
Veteran Mickelson finished in second place behind Spieth with earnings of $52.3m, $50m of which came from off-course activities.