Golf is a lucrative game, with on-course earnings being sky high and off-course endorsements being even higher, there's a lot of money to be made. Golf Digest have compiled a list of the top earners in Golf in 2008.

So who are golf's richest players?

Things to note:

• Tiger earned just 6% of his earnings on the golf course; the rest came from endorsements such as Nike and Buick.
• That's nothing on Nick Faldo: not a penny of his $5.5 million came on the course.
• The top earners generally have one thing in common - they have business interests outside of golf. Just look at Arnold Palmer and Greg Norman for shining examples.
  
• There's a long way back from Tiger - he earns almost as much as the next three names on the list combined.
• Five female players make the list - Annika Sorenstam ranked 11th overall with $14.5 million, Michelle Wie next at 24th with $7.1 million.
• The "cut" for the list was $4.4 million - made by Paul Casey at number 50.
  

Top earners of 2008

1. Tiger Woods, $117.3 million
2. Phil Mickelson, $44.8 million
3. Vijay Singh, $43.1 million
4. Arnold Palmer, $30 million
5. Greg Norman, $26 million
6. Ernie Els, $26 million
7. Sergio Garcia, $25 million
8. Jack Nicklaus, $22 million
9. Padraig Harrington, $17.6 million
10. Jim Furyk, $15.7 million
11. Annika Sorenstam, $14.5 million
12. Retief Goosen, $11.3 million
13. Camilo VIllegas, $11.2 million
14. Adam Scott, $10.9 million
15. Trevor Immelman, $9.9 million
16. Davis Love III, $9.7 million
17. Anthony Kim, $8.8 million
18. Mike Weir, $8.8 million
19. Lee Westwood, $8.7 million
20. Justin Leonard, $8.6 million
21. Henrik Stenson, $8.1 million
22. Colin Montgomerie, $7.5 million
23. K.J. Choi, $7.4 million
24. Michelle Wie, $7 million
25. Kenny Perry, $6.7 million
26. Paula Creamer, $6.5 million
27. Gary Player, $6.5 million
28. Tom Watson, $6.5 million
29. Stewart Cink, $6.5 million
30. John Daly, $6.2 million
31. Robert Karlsson, $6 million
32. Fred Couples, $5.9 million
33. Zach Johnson, $5.7 million
34. Rory Sabbatini, $5.6 million
35. Geoff Ogilvy, $5.6 million
36. Luke Donald, $5.6 million
37. Nick Faldo, $5.5 million
38. Charles Howell III, $5.4 million
39. Ian Poulter, $5.3 million
40. Justin Rose, $5.2 million
41. Darren Clarke, $5.2 million
42. Robert Allenby, $5.2 million
43. Angel Cabrera, $5.1 million
44. Ji-Ya Shin, $5.1 million
45. Lorena Ochoa, $5 million
46. Peter Jacobsen, $4.9 million
47. Steve Stricker, $4.7 million
48. Stuart Allenby, $4.7 million
49. David Toms, $4.5 million
50. Paul Casey, $4.4 million