Jon Rahm was reportedly offered US$ 350mn to join LIV Golf
Popular Spaniard Jon Rahm, the 2023 Masters champion who joined LIV Golf late last year has been ranked second on the Forbes’ annual World’s Highest Paid Athletes for the 12 months ending in May 2024 , only behind soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo who topped the list again, with $260 million in earnings.
Rahm reportedly was contracted by LIV for US$ 350mn, half of which, Forbes estimates, he received upfront taking his total earnings over the past 12 months to $218 million. According to Forbes, $198 million of that came from his on-course earnings and LIV contract, while $20 million came off the course through endorsements.
Rahm is yet to win on the LIV Tour, but he hasn’t finished worse than 10th in his seven starts while finishing third twice.
In 2023, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson were ranked 6th & 7th on the Forbes list at $107M and $106Million respectively, also due to their contracts and earnings with LIV Golf.
Rahm was one of five golfers on the 2024 Forbes’ top-50 list, which included Rory McIlroy (19th, $80.1 million total), Tiger Woods (23rd, $67.2 million), Scottie Scheffler (29th, $59.2 million) and Cameron Smith (43rd, $48 million).
The top 10 Forbes Richest athletes and their earnings –
Rank Sports Athlete Earnings (US$)
1 Football Cristiano Ronaldo $260mn
2 Golf Jon Rahm $218mn
3 Football Lionel Messi $135mn
4 Basketball LeBron James $128.2mn
5 Basketball Giannis Antetokounmpo $111mn
6 Football Kylian Mbappe $110mn
7 Football Neymar $108mn
8 Football Karim Benzema $106mn
9 Basketball Stephen Curry $102mn
10 American Foot ball Lamar Jackson $100.5mn
Photo – Forbes