This LIV Golf duo's earnings soared past sporting legends LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo with lucrative Saudi backing

LIV Golf players Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson's earnings surpassed NBA great LeBron James and Portugal soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo in the previous year, with annual earnings twice as much as the two sports superstars.

The reason behind this rapid rise in the duo's earnings was their switch to Saudi backed LIV Golf circuit. LIV Golf lured many top names of the PGA Tour offering them hundreds of millions of dollars in deals.

Players like Mickelson, Johnson, Cameron Smith, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Bubba Watson, and many more names decided to sign the contract with Public Investment Fund-sponsored LIV.

As per reports, Mickelson, the biggest name to join the breakaway league, raked in £162 million for signing the deal, while Johnson earned £100 million. Johnson also won the inaugural year-end championship receiving over £20 million.

Mickelson and Johnson are among 16 players from Saudi backed circuit who are currently competing in the ongoing 2023 PGA Championship.

Among PGA Tour members, Rory McIlroy was the highest-earning player in 2023 with annual earnings of $80.8 million, as reported by Forbes. The 34-year-old golfer was also declared as the highest-earning sportsperson in the United Kingdom.

According to sources, Rory has a net worth of more than £200 million.

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Highest-earning golfers in 2023

Here are the top 10 highest-earning golfers in 2023:

• Dustin Johnson: $107m
• Phil Mickelson: $106m
• Rory McIlroy: $80.8m
• Tiger Woods: $75.1m
• Cameron Smith: $73m
• Brooks Koepka: $72m
• Bryson DeChambeau: $69m
• Jon Rahm: $53m
• Patrick Reed: $52m
• Jordan Spieth: $47.5m
• Scottie Scheffler: $47.1m
• Sergio Garcia: $46m

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How much has each golfer earned from LIV Golf events?

Here are the earnings of each golfer from LIV Golf events:

• Dustin Johnson: $38,975,917*
• Talor Gooch: $20,174,900
• Branden Grace: $19,697,832*
• Peter Uihlein: $18,583,118*
• Patrick Reed: $16,802,714
• Brooks Koepka: $14,472,100
• Pat Perez: $11,823,900
• Sergio Garcia: $10,650,786
• Carlos Ortiz: $10,409,480
• Cameron Smith: $10,244,000
• Charles Howell III: $9,703,666
• Charl Schwartzel: $9,437,333
• Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra: $8,620,250
• Anirban Lahiri: $7,901,000
• Louis Oosthuizen: $7,676,500
• Paul Casey: $7,098,867
• Matthew Wolff: $6,877,883
• Joaquin Niemann: $6,740,119
• Henrik Stenson: $6,724,000
• Abraham Ancer: $6,563,000
• Jason Kokrak: $6,033,500
• Chase Koepka: $5,421,464
• Bryson DeChambeau: $5,334,583
• Lee Westwood: $5,044,747
• Danny Lee: $4,839,250
• Matt Jones: $4,674,700
• Sam Horsfield: $4,552,333
• Richard Bland: $4,548,333
• Hennis Du Plessis: $4,530,000
• Marc Leishman: $4,145,400
• Sebastian Munoz: $4,140,000
• Ian Poulter: $4,066,833
• Laurie Canter: $3,788,950
• Mito Pereira: $3,712,000
• Kevin Na: $3,617,286
• Harold Varner III: $3,523,166
• Scott Vincent: $3,398,950
• Graeme McDowell: $3,354,881
• Cameron Tringale: $3,299,600
• Sihwan Kim: $3,117,500
• Wade Ormsby: $3,069,500
• Brendan Steele: $2,969,333
• Phil Mickelson: $2,909,350
• James Piot: $2,630,500
• Bernd Wiesberger: $2,429,000
• Dean Burmester: $2,399,083
• Jediah Morgan: $2,219,500
• Martin Kaymer: $2,170,550
• Bubba Watson: $2,096,250
• David Puig: $2,091,100
• Thomas Pieters: $2,011,583
• Phachara Khongwatmai: $1,858,333
• Turk Pettit: $1,691,000
• Justin Harding: $1,319,167
• Sadom Kaewkanjana: $1,312,286
• Adrian Otaegui: $1,294,500
• Hudson Swafford: $1,241,000
• Jinichiro Kozuma: $1,205,000
• Shergo Al Kurdi: $1,044,000
• Shaun Norris: $1,006,000
• Travis Smyth: $846,000
• Hideto Tanihara: $752,600
• Oliver Bekker: $737,500
• Ryosuke Kinoshita: $624,000
• Yuki Inamori: $501,000
• Hudson Swafford: $1,241,000
• Jinichiro Kozuma: $1,205,000
• Shergo Al Kurdi: $1,044,000
• Shaun Norris: $1,006,000
• Travis Smyth: $846,000
• Hideto Tanihara: $752,600
• Oliver Bekker: $737,500
• Ryosuke Kinoshita: $624,000
• Yuki Inamori: $501,000