Ariya among highest-paid stars
Thai golfer Ariya among highest-paid stars in Forbes’ list
Thai golfer Ariya Jutanugarn is among Forbes magazine’s list of the highestpaid women in sports.
The 23-year-old from Bangkok was 15th in the list released on Tuesday.
According to Forbes, the two-time major winner had total earnings of US$5.3 million — $3.3 million in prize money and $2 in endorsements — in the 12-month period ending June 1.
Last year, she won the LPGA Tour’s Race to the CME Globe season-long points competition and the accompanying $1 million bonus.
The Thai has more than 10 endorsement partners, including Siam Cement Group, Titleist, Toyota, KBank and Thai Airways, according to the magazine.
Tennis superstar Serena Williams topped the list for the fourth straight year.
The business publication calculated that the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion earned $29.2 million with just $4.2 million of that coming from prize money.
Japan’s Naomi Osaka, who burst to international stardom with a stunning upset of Williams in the 2018 US Open final and went on to win the Australian Open in January, became just the fourth woman to earn more than $20 million in a year — after Williams and tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Li Na.
Forbes pegged Osaka’s earnings at $24.3 million, putting her second on a list dominated by tennis players.
Former Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber was third on the list with earnings of $11.8 million followed by this year’s Wimbledon champion Simona Halep.
Forbes included prize money, salaries, bonuses, endorsements and appearance fees between June 1, 2018 and June 1, 2019 in the figures.
The highest placed athlete from a different sport was US footballer Alex Morgan, the 2019 Fifa World Cup goal medallist who clocked in at 12th. Morgan earned $5.8 million, most of it in endorsements.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi topped Forbes’ list of the best-paid athletes over the past year with $127 million.