LOS ANGELES, October 2- Tiger Woods has become the first sportsman to break through the billion-dollar earnings barrier, Forbes magazine reported on Thursday.
The 33-year-old American, who has won 14 majors, reached the latest landmark of his career when he won a 10-million-dollar bonus for his FedEx Cup victory last weekend.
According to the magazine’s calculations, Woods went into the 2009 season on 895 million dollars which included prize money, endorsements, appearance fees as well as money earned through his golf course design business.
Even before picking up his end of season bonus, Woods had earned 10.5 million dollars on the USPGA Tour this year, winning six titles.
Woods has been the top-earning sportsman since 2002 when he took over from former Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher.
His most lucrative commercial deal is with Nike and brings him over 30 million dollars a year.
Forbes estimated that retired NBA star Michael Jordan will be the next sportsman to earn a billion dollars.
Jordan amassed around 800 million dollars in his playing career and continues to make 45 million dollars a year thanks mainly to a deal with Nike.
