Phil Mickelson is most marketable golfer

• Phil Mickelson is the third most marketable athlete in the world
• The five-time major winner earned £41m in endorsements in 2016
• Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth also in the top ten

Phil Mickelson is the third most marketable athlete in the world, a study by the London School of Marketing has revealed.

The 46-year-old earned an incredible £41m in endorsements during 2016 thanks to his numerous deals with the likes of Callaway, Amgen, Barclays, Exxon, KPMG and Rolex – third only to Roger Federer (£50m) and LeBron James (£44m).

Despite teeing it up just once in a competitive event in 2016, Tiger Woods was fourth on the list – £4m behind Phil Mickelson – with £37m, largely due to his deals with Nike, Upper Deck, Rolex and Hero Motorcorp.

But only three British sports stars are in the top 30 – with Rory McIlroy heading those at sixth on the list overall with earnings of £29m.

Read more -> Golfers dominate sport’s richest of all-time

That dwarves the amount earned by tennis world No.1 Andy Murray (above) who sits 22nd on the list with £12m thanks to his deals with Head, Jaguar, Standard Life and Under Armour, while Gareth Bale rounds off the British top three with earnings of £9m.

Jordan Spieth, meanwhile, completed golf’s dominance in the top ten, coming eighth alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Rafael Nadal with earnings of £26m

Also, according to the research conducted by London School of Marketing, golf comes third on the list of sports most reliant on endorsements.

Read more -> Jordan Spieth is top golfer on 2016 Forbes List

A total of 75% of the sport’s earnings come from sponsors, coming behind cricket (81%) and tennis (78%).

Jacques de Cock, faculty member at London School of Marketing said: “The top 100 athletes earned a total of £2.6bn last year and the sponsorship revenues are driven upwards mainly by the competition of major clothing brands.

Follow @BunkeredOnline

Phil Mickelson is world’s most marketable golfer

Does it surprise you that Phil Mickelson is above the likes of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy? Let us know in the ‘Comments’ section below.