Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, LeBron James Top Forbes' Most Valuable Athletes

Tiger Woods' golf game may have fallen off a cliff, but he's still No. 1 somewhere: Forbes' list of most valuable sports brands.

The publication released its yearly list Thursday, with Woods' "brand" being valued at $30 million for 2015. Forbes defines an athlete's brand value as "[his or her] endorsement income, less the average endorsement income of the top 10 athletes in same the sport."  

Woods, who turns 40 in December, has not won a major championship since the 2008 U.S. Open. He has spent most of the last two years injured or playing poorly, with a series of back ailments preventing him from getting into form.

The former world No. 1 missed the cut or withdrew in five of his 11 tournaments in 2015 and placed in the top 10 only once; he's not won on the PGA Tour since the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Ranking	Athlete	Value
1	Tiger Woods	$30 million
2	Phil Mickelson	$28 million
T3	LeBron James	$27 million
T3	Roger Federer	$27 million
5	Mahendra Singh Dhoni	$21 million
T6	Usain Bolt	$18 million
T6	Kevin Durant	$18 million
8	Cristiano Ronaldo	$16 million
9	Rory McIlroy	$12 million
10	Floyd Mayweather Jr.	$11.5 million

Nevertheless, Woods' robust endorsements keep him $2 million ahead of Phil Mickelson, another aging golfer living more on his past than present performance.

The 45-year-old has had more recent success than Woods—his last major win was at the 2013 Open Championship—but it's nonetheless interesting that Phil and Tiger remain so valuable as they're usurped on the course by a group of hungry youngsters led by 26-year-old Rory McIlroy and 22-year-old Jordan Spieth.

It's worth noting that Woods' brand value dropped $6 million from 2014 to 2015, so there is a course correction happening.

Strangely enough, every player in Forbes' top four saw a drop in value over the last 12 months. LeBron James, despite a well-regarded return to Cleveland and NBA Finals run, saw his brand fall to $27 million—a drop of $10 million.

While much of that has to do with increasing endorsements for other stars around the league and his Beats by Dre payment being wiped off the books, James' stock drop moves him into a tie for third on the overall list with tennis star Roger Federer.   

The Cleveland Cavaliers forward is nonetheless one of four team-sport athletes who made the cut. Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni ($20 million), Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant ($18 million) and Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo ($16 million) are also in the top 10. Durant, McIlroy ($12 million) and Floyd Mayweather Jr. ($11.5 million) are the new entrants.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.