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By , www.SI.com   Sports Ilustrated Ranking the 50 highest-earning athletes in the U.S. (Top 2 are golfers) Five years ago, Sports Illustrated first set out to find the 50 top-earning American athletes (taking into account on- and off-the-field income). We discovered a few basic facts, and as the Fortunate 50 turns five, some things have remained dead-on consistent: No one can touch Tiger Woods, the runaway No. 1 for the fifth year in a row. Tiger's near $128 million haul is more than double his closest pursuer, Phil Mickelson at $62.4 million. As usual, hoops dominates the 50: More than half this year's list is made up of NBA players. There are 10 baseball players, seven football players, three NASCAR drivers, three golfers and one boxer -- and yet zero women. Meanwhile, our International 20 list has seen a huge bump in average paycheck, thanks to the weak American dollar: 12 of the athletes earn their bread in foreign currencies from leagues outside the U.S. In the futures department, we tab the likes of Danica Patrick, Chris Paul and Joba Chamberlain to someday soon make the 50 in our Future Fortunates photo gallery. As always, we limited our estimates to salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances. Candidates for the 50 had to be American citizens. For an in-depth analysis of who's on the fifth annual Fortunate 50 and why, click here. 1 Tiger Woods Pro Golf Last Year's Rank: 1 $22,902,706 $105,000,000 $127,902,706 With close to $800 million in total earnings on and off the course over his 13-year career, Tiger should become the first billion-dollar athlete in the next two years -- and he's still only 32. See Tiger's sponsors. 2 Phil Mickelson Pro Golf Last Year's Rank: 3 $9,372,685 $53,000,000 $62,372,685 Lefty's numbers jump thanks to an extra $2 million in FedEx Cup points in '07 and lucrative appearance fees for his first participation on the Asian Tour in Singapore and Shanghai. See Phil's sponsors. 3 LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA) Last Year's Rank: 6 $12,455,000 $28,000,000 $40,455,000 King James has earned $167 million during his five seasons in the NBA, and has his eyes on serious entrepreneurship: He counts billionaire Warren Buffett as a role model and friend. 4 Floyd Mayweather Jr. Boxing Last Year's Rank: 21 $20,000,000 $20,250,000 $40,250,000 It's been a monster year for Pretty Boy, who made $20 million in purse and pay-per-view shares for his fight with Ricky Hatton and another $20 million for his foray into professional wrestling. 5 Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) Last Year's Rank: 5 $19,490,625 $16,000,000 $35,490,625 How's that for a change of tune? He once criticized his teammates; last month Bryant bought each of them $9,000 Swiss watches as a thank you for helping him win his first MVP award. 6 Shaquille O'Neal Phoenix Suns (NBA) Last Year's Rank: 4 $20,000,000 $15,000,000 $35,000,000 Shaq finally unloaded his 2.5-acre Miami estate last fall after having it on the market for more than two years. The buyer? Miami-native (and No. 7) A-Rod, for a reported $27 million. 7 Alex Rodriguez New York Yankees (MLB) Last Year's Rank: 11 $29,000,000 $6,000,000 $35,000,000 Assuming A-Rod plays out his new mammoth 10-year, $275 million deal, he'll have earned $445 million in base salary alone over the course of what would be a 24-year career. 8 Kevin Garnett Boston Celtics (NBA) Last Year's Rank: 7 $22,000,000 $9,000,000 $31,000,000 KG is the highest-paid of the Celtics' Big Three; at a total of $56.1 million in salary this season, the trio makes up 74 percent of the Eastern Conference champs' entire payroll in '07-08. 9 Peyton Manning Indianapolis Colts (NFL) Last Year's Rank: 12 $17,500,000 $13,000,000 $30,500,000 Hide the Lombardi Trophy. Football's leading endorser is still king of NFL pitchmen, but little bro Eli -- with whom he now regularly shares screen time in TV ads -- is creeping up fast. 10 Derek Jeter New York Yankees (MLB) Last Year's Rank: 8 $22,000,000 $8,000,000 $30,000,000 The Yankee captain cut a deal with the tax man in February that allowed him to avoid paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes on his $13 million Trump World Tower condo.

Golf Digest has issued it's annual list of the top 50 earners in the sport, which includes on-course and off-course earnings.

Of course, Tiger Woods leads the way with US$112.7-million in total earnings, US$99.8-million of it outside the PGA Tour proper. Phil Mickelson, who is No. 2 again, looks like a chump with his total of US$49.5-million.

Michelle Wie is 12th, down from No. 6 last year. She earned a sickly US$9,899 in tournament winnings and a healthy US$12.5-million in ancillary money.

What's in store for 2008?

Just as the new year begins, so too does the new USPGA Tour season, and some of the multi-millionaires competing on it are not happy.

Vijay Singh says it is too early in the year to start the 2008 Tour, but had he been back in Europe they would have begun in early November of 2007!

Are there simply too many tournaments? Will this saturation lead to a lack of interest from spectators and televison viewers?

Should other formats of the game be played more by the top players rather than the regulation 72-hole strokeplay for the majority of the year?

So what will 2008 bring in golfing terms? There were first-time major winners in the first three big events last year, before Tiger Woods, second in both of the first two majors, restored order by claiming the USPGA.

Woods looked in awesome form at the end of last season and has spoken of his hunger for greater success in 2008.

Are there enough potential major winners to stop him taking one of the big four prizes for the first time since 2004, and is there anyone who has the capabilities to get close to his top ranking?

Phil Mickelson appeared to have discovered the art of winning majors having claimed the Masters twice in three years and also the 2005 PGA Championship, but since imploding at the 2006 US Open he has not made the significant advances expected.

And what of the current crop of British players? They are all no doubt well aware that there has been no winner from the British Isles since Paul Lawrie's surprise Open triumph at Carnoustie in 1999.

While Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and David Howell have failed to take that elusive, sizeable step from talented tour player worth a few quid to major champion, Justin Rose has improved consistently in recent years.

Does he represent Britain's best chance of a major title? How influential might Irishman Padraig Harrington's marvellous Open win at Carnoustie be on the younger players?

What of Harrington? Few would disagree that he has worked assiduously to achieve his success, but now that he has won his major does he have the game and the desire to press on and capture more? Can he challenge the world's elite players consistently or, like Lawrie, will one major be his limit?

And how will the prodigious teenager Rory McIllroy fare? Can the precocious Irishman really qualify for the Ryder Cup? Is it too soon to plunge him into the cauldron that is the bi-annual battle with the Americans, or is his youthful, buccaneering style exactly what is needed to help Europe retain the crown?

Golf News, Source... The Wall Street Journal.com

Here are the TOP Stories of 2007:

The FedEx Cup. In the absence of any multimajor winners, this was probably the main Tour story of 2007. Despite dire predictions of disaster, the new four-event, regular-season-ending FedEx Cup series succeeded in its main objectives. Golf held our interest into the September start of football season, which it had never done before; all of the world's top players participated (although several skipped an event); and the series produced worthy winners in Steve Stricker, Phil Mickelson and the Cup champion, Mr. Woods (twice).

My take: The Tour lucked out that the individual tournaments were so exciting, because the overall format lacks drama. Only the top handful of players have a realistic chance to win the Cup. And unfortunately, given the Tour's often-conflicting obligations to its players, sponsors, host cities, charities and the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup schedules, an immediate overhaul is about as likely as Congress quickly passing a universal-health-care bill.

Lorena Ochoa. In April she replaced Annika Sorenstam as world No. 1, and she dominated the LPGA Tour more convincingly than Mr. Woods did the PGA Tour. Her eight wins included her first major, the British Women's Open, played for the first time at St. Andrews in Scotland. The 26-year-old from Mexico is tiny but tough (in the off-season she pursues extreme sports like triathlons and mountain-climbing) and makes a point to talk to Mexican workers at the tournament sites when she plays. And she is just part of the LPGA's fresh new appeal.

Tiger Woods. He started the year with his seventh win in a row and finished with four wins in his last five events, including his 13th major at the PGA. He exactly tied the lowest-ever stroke average he posted in 2000, 67.79, but this time the differential between first and second place, 1.5 strokes, was even bigger. The year also marked the birth of his first child, daughter Sam Alexis; the start of his new tournament, the AT&T National; and the launch of his course-design business.

Colin Montgomerie suggested it would be nice for the other players if Mr. Woods took next year off, and I agree. He could spend the first three months fixing up the Katrina situation in New Orleans, the next three months solving the Mideast crisis and still have time with his family before hosting the Target World Challenge in December.

Phil Mickelson. Quite a year, as usual, for Sitcom Phil, the world's No. 2 player. He won three times, including the Players, but spectacularly blew late-tournament leads three other times as only he can, driving the ball like a whirling Dervish and taking risks. He switched coaches, weirdly blamed the course setup at Oakmont for injuring his wrist and testily complained about Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem in his brief moment on television after winning at the BMW. More and more, Mr. Mickelson reminds me of Jerry Mathers as the Beaver. Every week, at 8:30 Eastern time, 7:30 Central, you can pretty much count on the rascal making some kind of lovable mess for himself.

Other characters on Tour. A banner year. We got Woody Austin, aka Aqua Man, who as a 43-year-old rookie at the Presidents Club stole the headlines with his face plant in a greenside pond; good old boy Boo Weekley, who came into his own with pithy comments about this great wall they got there over in China and how Scotland isn't part of the United Kingdom; and foot-shooter Rory Sabbatini, who not only called Mr. Woods "more beatable than ever" before getting shellacked by him, but also grew bored and left Mr. Woods's Target tournament a day early.

The majors. Given the roster of monsters for this year's major tournaments -- Oakmont for the U.S. Open, won by Angel Cabrera; Carnoustie for the British Open, won by Padraig Harrington; and Southern Hills for the PGA Championship, won by Mr. Woods -- it's ironic Augusta National, home of the Masters, should have produced the tournament that was the most painful to watch. Zach Johnson's victory was one of attrition more than brilliance, and it could be even worse next year if the horrible drought in Georgia continues. My favorite majors stat: South African Tim Clark made the cut at the U.S. Open with eight bogies and not a single birdie.

The U.S. Golf Association's proposed ban on square grooves. Little noticed but significant mainly because, when it goes into effect as expected for high-level competition in 2009 (and for the rest of us in a decade or so), it would be the first actual equipment rollback in 70 years. In theory, the square grooves make it too easy to spin balls from the rough and thus control how the ball lands and holds on the green. At the rate golf technology has been improving, more aggressive regulatory action from the USGA is long overdue, and may continue on other issues affecting how far balls fly. Some critics contend there is a natural limit to how far things will go without more supervision, but that's also what they said about Britney Spears.

The Hole-in-One Lady. A golfer named Jacqueline Gagne, 47, of Rancho Mirage, Calif., claimed to have made 16 holes-in-one in seven months this year. Not since North Korea announced that its supreme leader, Kim Jong Il, in 1994 made five aces during the first round of golf he ever played has so much skepticism surrounded hole-in-one claims.

Bill Murray. In August, the actor was detained for erratically driving a golf cart through the streets of Stockholm and afterward declined to take a Breathalyzer test. I don't really have a take on this story, it just makes me laugh to think about.