Tiger's Lucrative Golden Years
Seeing the Big Cat standing on crutches certainly indicates a return to health standing upright. It was a stark reminder that his playing days aren’t exactly around the corner.
Besides missing out competitively, Tiger isn’t likely to miss these on-course earnings.
Even in a pandemic-riddled 2020, Tiger’s portfolio doesn’t rely on holing putts:
- $62.3M in 2020 earnings ($2.3M on course, $60M off course)
- Since 2012, has averaged about $55.6M per year in earnings
- From 2012-2020, off-course revenue represented anywhere 83-99% of his earnings
- Sources: Endorsements (Nike, Taylor Made, etc.), golf course design firm
- Further augmented with a return as the face of EA Sports PGA Tour 2K video game
Tiger isn’t the only pro golfer (alive or not) lining his oversized mattress with greenbacks:
- Forbes recent list of top earning active athletes has 3 pro golfers in its top 25 ()
- In 2015, Forbes highest-paid retired athletes had 4 golfers in its top 10 list
- Arnold Palmer, the 4th highest deceased celebrity earner is outdueling Elvis!
Suppose Tiger blows through his $800M and fails to maintain his lucrative endorsements.
He can always fall back on his pension earned through his play on the PGA Tour:
- Money deferred from past (and potentially future) FedEx Cup earnings
- The “made cuts clause” - 15 years of making cuts vests a sizeable $2.2M+
- Tiger’s pension (at age 50) is estimated to be worth ~$27M
Let’s just say that Tiger (or other well-heeled PGA Tour elite) isn’t going to have to check between the seats of his private jet for change. We suspect that when Tiger sets off for retirement, he will be set for life.
Even those dining off his carcass when he departs this mortal world won’t exactly be consuming Spam sandwiches for sustenance.
