Rory joins Top 20 Forbes list

Rory McIlroy has joined the Forbes Top 20 richest athletes list.

Rory takes 17th place on the list with earnings of £29.36m ($42.6m), of which £24.1 m ($35m) came from endorsements.

But he’s got quite a way to go to catch up with the new Number One, Christian Ronaldo who earned £60.6m ($88m) from salary, bonuses and endorsements last year.

The list has been lead by either Tiger Woods or Floyd Mayweather for the past decade and a half, but with Tiger not playing and Mayweather retiring it’s all change at the top. Tiger is now out of the Top 10 in 12^th spot, whilst Mayweather has slipped down to 16^th.

Rory is not the only golfer to make the Top 20. Phil Mickelson comes in 8^th with £38.46 m ($52.9m), just beating 9^th spot Jordan Spieth who made £36.39m ($52.8m).

Jason Day makes it onto the list as well for the first time, but he’s down the list tied at 69^th.

One in four of the top 100 earning stars in the Forbes list is a baseball player and 65 of them are Americans. Together, the 100 earned $3.15bn (£2.17bn) in 2015.

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