Tiger on course to hit $1bn earnings

TIGER WOODS made $122.7 million (€83 million) in on-course earnings and endorsements last year and will break the $1 billion (€680m) mark by 2010, according to an annual study by Golf Digest magazine.

Woods’s earnings, which included a $10m (€6.8m) bonus annuity for winning the season-long FedEx Cup points competition and appearance fees for overseas tournaments, mark an increase of $23m (€15.6m) over his 2006 total. Woods also signed new endorsement contracts with the Gillette and PepsiCo’s Gatorade.

In 2007, 158 golfers surpassed the $1m mark in earnings, including 99 on the US PGA Tour, the sport’s premier circuit. In 1996, the year Woods turned pro, only nine players earned at least $1m (€681,000) on the course, with Tom Lehman leading the way with $1.7m (€1.1m).