Tiger Woods: Fall from Grace Still Evident as Tiger Drops Down Money List

There was a time when Tiger Woods was No. 1 in everything. No. 1 in the golf rankings. No. 1 in total earnings. No. 1 in popularity.

These days, Tiger is rarely No. 1.

That includes dropping to No. 3 in Sports Illustrated's "Fortunate 50" list, a ranking of the total earnings in 2011 ("salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearance fees") for American athletes. It's the first time since SI started compiling the list in 2004 that Tiger isn't No. 1.

And it's further proof that the lasting effects of Tiger's fall from grace after his 2009 scandal—alongside a golf game that is no longer dominant—is hitting Tiger where it counts.

In the wallet.

Well, sort of. According to SI, he still made a cool $56.44 million in 2011.

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Sure, he's fallen from the #1 world ranking he held for 281 straight weeks (he's currently #7), but $54.5 million in endorsements is no call for a pity party, even if his deals now include a Japanese pain rub instead of Gatorade.

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Let's put this in perspective. In 2008, Woods earned just under $128 million. In 2009—the year of the scandal—that number dropped to $99.7 million. In 2010, we were down to $90.5 million. Last year, it was $62 million. 

Yes, his endorsements are down in a big way. But he also made just under $23 million in tour winnings in 2008, a far cry from the $1.9 million he earned on the PGA Tour last year. Tiger may only have half of the endorsement money he once brought in, but he's lost a much larger percentage of money due to his play on the course.

Yes, I know he lost a lot of time last year to injury, but that's still a dramatic drop.

Tiger Woods will never be the man who once raked in nearly $800 million in his first 13 years as a professional golfer. The memory of 2009 will always make him just dubious enough to keep certain endorsements away.

And it seems unlikely that his golf game will ever return to its once dominant form.

But that doesn't mean Woods is finished. He's still bringing in a huge amount on endorsements, and this year alone he's earned $4.22 million on the PGA Tour, putting him atop the money list. Tiger has some good golf left in him.

And even though the 2009 scandal still hangs over his earnings, he's got plenty of time to pad that oversized wallet of his, too.

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets are money like the transfer window.