Golf is one of the richest games in the world, with golfers commanding vast salaries and competition wins, let alone their sponsorship deals and endorsements. Phil Mickelson is a legendary Arizona State University golfer whose worth is estimated at around $400 million. That’s largely due to his golfing successes as much as his business dealings. Having won three out of four major tournaments, his overall career earnings have so far hit the $800 million mark. Mickelson is only just behind Tiger Woods when it comes to overall earnings and net worth, and he continues to make smart decisions that simply keep that cash accumulating.
Early Days
Born in 1970, Mickelson is the son of a pilot, with his father teaching him to play golf at their homes in San Diego and Arizona. Unusual for golf players, Mickelson plays with the same left-handed swing as his father, although he is right-handed. Mickelson showed plenty of talent at an early age and received a full golf scholarship to attend Arizona State University. Through his time at college, Mickelson won 16 tournaments and also earned first-team All American honors for an impressive four years in a row. After graduating in 1992, Mickelson headed to the professional courses.
Mickelson’s Professional Career
Turing pro immediately after graduation, Mickelson saw fast success. Even while still ranked as an amateur, he pulled off a massive win at his first PGA tour. Between then and 2003, he ranked in the top 10 finishing line up an incredible seventeen times, but despite multiple second and third places, he didn’t quite manage a major victory. In 2004 though, which was his thirteenth year competing on the PGA tour, he finally won. Even hernia surgeries couldn’t stop him once he started winning, and he started racking up the trophies every year. He was even the oldest ever winner of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am tournament at 48 years old.
How Mickelson Earned His Money
Although golf doesn’t appear in the top ranking of the CashLady research into the richest sports leagues, that doesn’t mean that there’s not a lot of money in the game. Not only has Mickelson taken home over $90 million in tournament prizes, but he’s also estimated to have earned over $800 million through his career. Salary and tournament payouts of around $10 million a year are supplemented by an incredible $50 million that comes from his endorsement payments.
Endorsements: He’s got some big names backing him, with brands like ExxonMobil, Ford, Rolex, and KPMG all throwing money at him like it’s going out of fashion. Mickelson even gets paid to endorse the arthritis drug Enbrel after using it himself. Add in the $9 million he won when he went head to head against Tiger Woods, and it’s clear that Mickelson could easily buy any of the top 10 private Arizona golf courses.
With a net worth of $400 million, Phil Mickelson remains one of the most popular figures in the golfing industry, and his legacy is set to become a golfing legend.
