The best golfers of the last 10 years

Over the last century, golf has become one of the most widely spread sports in the world. Professional golfers can quickly become famous and extremely rich, the prize funds and sponsorship contracts easily help with that. Of course, the foundation of golf’s popularity was laid by the first players who become legends for millions of fans. However, during the past decades, there have been many talented young golfers whose skills and tenacity were as good as those of the famous golf pioneers.

In this article, we will talk about the best contemporary golfers, who have and continue to excel in the field. Let’s begin.

1. Phil Mickelson

Philip Alfred Mickelson is a professional US golfer. He was inducted into the Golf Hall of Fame in recognition of his outstanding career. His accomplishments include 40 victories in prestigious PGA tournaments, more than $70 million in prize funds (second highest in history), and four significant titles (second highest in the last 20 years).

He won 43 PGA Tour events, including 5 major championships: 3 Masters titles (2004, 2006, and 2010), one PGA Championship (2005), and one Open Championship (2013). Phil Mickelson has won more than $83 million in tournament prizes during his career. He also became one of the most popular players among gamblers at UK Online Casinos that won real money while trying their luck at golf betting. Mickelson earns about $60 million a year, $10 million in salary and tournament earnings, and an amazing $50 million in endorsements. Mickelson earns more than $32 million every year from advertising contracts with Callaway, KPMG, Rolex, and Amgen/Pfizer.

2. Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy is a professional Irish golf player who become famous after winning the US Open 2011 and PGA Championship in 2012 while becoming the youngest player to win a PGA Tour playoff.

McIlroy competed in both European tournaments as well as PGA Tour games in the United States and North America. To date, Rory is the world’s number one golfer. For 95 weeks, he was ranked first in the official world’s top golfer list. McIlroy won more than a dozen titles in his career. He represented Great Britain and Ireland at both amateur and professional levels. The player’s income from prize money and promotions is about $30 million annually.

3. Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods spent a whopping 683 weeks at the top of the world golf rankings. Woods won a total of 82 Professional Golfers Association (PGA) tournaments, an all-time record in golf history. He was named PGA Golfer of the Year 11 times. He also became the first athlete in history who earned $1 billion.

After numerous successes in junior competitions in 1996, Woods began his professional career and immediately signed a five-year contract with Nike worth $40 million, which was extended in 2000 already for $105 million. And now Nike continues to be the main partner of the athlete.

From 2013 to 2018, Tiger Woods did not win a single tournament because of numerous injuries. The athlete underwent four back surgeries. In 2018, Tiger Woods picked up his first win in five years and returned to professional sport. He will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2022.

4. Rickie Fowler

Rickie Fowler has started to impress the professional golf scene with his unmatched swing and bright clothes since 2009. He became one of America’s most popular young golfers, whose popularity has grown because of his personality, appearance, and willingness to interact with fans. Sports experts always noted the power and accuracy of the player’s kick. The ball flew into the hole almost immediately after he started a game.

Ricky won several PGA Tournaments and European competitions during his professional golf path. This helped him build a large fan base as well as sign profitable sponsorship contracts. Right now the player continues to develop his career and takes an active part in various tournaments.

Conclusion

If the pioneers of golf had found themselves at modern major tournaments, they would have been fascinated by the development of the industry. Modern golf, with its huge fan base, enormous money prizes, hundreds of journalists from around the world, and exciting television broadcasts, has come a long way in the last few decades.

But more importantly, modern players stepped far ahead in their development. Millions of fans around the world admire their talent and skills. In this article, we have looked at just a few of the most successful players, but the number of talented golfers is much greater.