Check out this incredible shot by Phil Mickelson, who hits it backwards out of a bunker:
Category: Golf (Page 22 of 38)
SI.com compiled a ranking of the 50 highest-earning American athletes and discovered that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are at the top of the list.
1. Tiger Woods
Pro Golf
Last Year’s Rank: 1
Salary/Winnings: $7,737,626
Endorsements: $92,000,000
Total: $99,737,626Tiger sacrificed millions in appearance fees during his year off to recover from knee surgery, but replaced his lucrative Buick deal — voided by mutual consent — with a new one from AT&T.
2. Phil Mickelson
Pro Golf
Last Year’s Rank: 2
Salary/Winnings: $6,350,356
Endorsements: $46,600,000
Total: $52,950,356Like Tiger, Phil no longer counts on a car-maker in his endorsement portfolio. (Ford chose not to re-sign him.) He still has lucrative deals with Rolex, Callaway, Exxon, Barclay’s and KPMG.
3. LeBron James
Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
Last Year’s Rank: 3
Salary/Winnings: $14,410,581
Endorsements: $28,000,000
Total: $42,410,581LeBron has one more season left under his deal before he can opt out. If Cleveland doesn’t show it’s Finals-worthy by next spring, expect the Knicks to come in with a huge offer.
4. Alex Rodriguez
New York Yankees (MLB)
Last Year’s Rank: 6 (tie)
Salary/Winnings: $33,000,000
Endorsements: $6,000,000
Total: $39,000,000We’re in the middle of A-Rod’s peak earning power in his middle-loaded, 10-year megadeal: He’ll make another $33 million in 2010 and then gradually decrease to a “normal” $20 million by ’17.
No. 5 Shaquille O’Neal
Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
Last Year’s Rank: 6 (tie)
Salary/Winnings: $20,000,000
Endorsements: $15,000,000
Total: $35,000,000The Big Bargaining Chip? Regardless of his trade to Cleveland, Shaq is in the final year of the five-year, $100 million deal he signed while with Miami. It’s the largest expiring deal in the NBA.
No. 10 Peyton Manning
Indianapolis Colts (NFL)
Last Year’s Rank: 9
Salary/Winnings: $14,500,000
Endorsements: $13,000,000
Total: $27,000,000NFL’s top endorser has distributed $500,000 in grants in ’09 through his PayBack Foundation to charities in Indianapolis, near his alma mater (Tennessee) and his hometown, New Orleans.
It’s amazing that the highest paid NFL player (Peyton Manning) barely cracked the top 10. Granted, the NFL only has a 17-game regular season, but you’d think that for what football players put their bodies through every season that they would make more than baseball players, golfers and basketball players.
Although he is pitching well this season despite his overall numbers, seeing Zito’s name on this list at No. 26 makes me shudder. He’s the third best pitcher (maybe fourth depending on how high you value Randy Johnson) on his own club, yet he’s the 26th highest-earning American athlete. Still, it should be noted that Zito donates $400 for every strikeout that he throws to the Strikeouts for Troops charity that he created to help hospitals treat soldiers that are wounded in military operations. In fact, as the article notes, a lot of the guys on this list give thousands of dollars to charities every year and that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Thanks in large part to his birdie on the 16th hole (a par 4) in the final round, Lucas Glover won the 2009 U.S. Open, edging out Phil Mickelson and a massive comeback attempt by David Duval.
Glover kept his cap tugged low and played the kind of golf that wins a U.S. Open under any conditions.
He made only one birdie in the rain-delayed final round, and it could not have been timed any better. Glover holed a 6-foot putt on the 16th hole to break one last tie for the lead, then held on with pars to close with a 3-over 73 for a two-shot victory.
“It was a test of patience, that’s for sure,” Glover said. “It was just heart today.”
It was sheer heartache for Mickelson.
His wife, Amy, is due to have surgery for breast cancer next week. She left cards and text messages asking him to bring home the silver trophy from a U.S. Open that has taunted Lefty for a decade.
Right when it was in his grasp, Mickelson let it slip away again.
He missed a 3-foot par putt on the 15th hole, and another par putt from 8 feet on the 17th that ended his dream finish. Mickelson closed with a 70 and wound up in a three-way tie for second with Duval and 54-hole leader Ricky Barnes.
Glover is a great story because not only is he an unknown in the PGA world, but he also didn’t lead after any of the first three rounds. He just played steady throughout the entire tournament and capitalized when he had an opportunity to win.
My heart goes out to Mickelson. He’s obviously been through a lot lately and it would have made for a great story had he won this weekend. It’s amazing that he’s been the runner up five times, but has never won a U.S. Open. His time will come.
After rain delayed the opening round of the 2009 U.S. Open on Thursday, play resumed on Friday and perennial favorite Tiger Woods is off to a brutal start.
Woods shot a 74 in Round 1, which leaves him 4-over-par after his first day. The 74 marks his second worst start ever at the U.S. Open, with his worst coming in 2006 when he shot a 76 in the opening round.
For comparison, when Woods won the U.S. Open in 2000 he shot a 65 in the opening round and when he won again in 2002, he shot a 67 in Round 1. Compared to his 74 this year, he would appear to have his work cut out for him, but don’t forget he shot a 72 in Round 1 last year and won his third-career U.S. Open so he’s not out of it – not by a long shot.
As of this post, Drew Weaver and Graeme McDowell lead all play with 69, but not all golfers have wrapped up play yet in the first round. So considering he’s only five shots back of the leaders with 54 holes to play, Woods has a ton of time to make up ground.
Check out the Official Site of the U.S. Open for updated scores and more on this year’s event.
The 2009 U.S. Open is set to kick off tomorrow from Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, New York. Not surprisingly, Tiger Woods is favored to win this year’s Open, although there are some intriguing long shots that could potentially come out victorious.
As with all of my predictions, I recommend to wager everything you own because I’m usually right. I’m 634-0 in my sports predicting career and I won’t hear differently.***
The Winner: Tiger Woods 3/2
Maybe someone with bigger plums would go against Tiger, but I feel good about the size of my plums and I’m going with the favorite. Woods won the Open last year and has done so three times in his career. My insiders (i.e. everything you read on the internet) tell me that the Bethpage Black Course is all about long, accurate drives and if that’s the case then Tiger should do well. Woods should also be well rested since he doesn’t bother with a lot of the other PGA Tour events on the schedule (he’s competed in just seven events so far this season) and because I hear he’s really, really good at golf (more inside information).
The Sleeper: Retief Goosen 35/1
The Goose could be loose this weekend because no one putts better on fast greens than Retief. He’s a grinder and won earlier this year at the tough Innisbrook Resort Copperhead Course. Goosen has also won the U.S. Open twice in his career and experience counts in a major.
The Long Shot Sleeper: David Toms 50/1
Like Woods, Toms excels at long, accurate drives and that should play well on this course. In 14 events this season, he’s finished in the top-10 six times and has experience winning a major. Granted, the last major win won was in 2001 (PGA Championship), so some believe he’s already peaked. Me? I say he’s due.
***There is no factual documentation that proves that Anthony is 634-0. Take his picks as mere suggestions and by no means should you “wager everything you own” because there’s a good chance Anthony was drunk while handicapping this event.
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