Tiger Woods is on course to become the first billionaire athlete with the popular US golfer proving a marketing² dream, according to Forbes Magazine.

Woods, who won the US Open last month despite a bad knee, is on track to exceed $1 billion in career earnings³ by 2010 after earning $115 million in 2007, said the American magazine which publishes an annual list of the world's richest people.

Forbes in Wednesday's edition said it would take 32-year-old Woods a bit longer to actually pocket that amount as taxes and management fees eat into his prize and endorsement⁴ money.

The calculation was based on Woods' estimated earnings in the annual rich list dating back to 1996, when he turned pro¹, and also credited the world number one golfer.

"Based on those criteria⁵, we project Tiger Woods should join our list of the world's billionaires in 2011," said the magazine. "It will be an unprecedented⁶ occurrence."

The magazine said there are plenty of billionaires who have excelled at sports, like Switzerland's richest man and champion sailor Ernesto Bertarelli, but no billionaires who have accumulated their fortune by playing sports.

A golf prodigy⁷ as a child, his recent US Open victory was his 14th major championship and he has won 50 tournaments on the PGA Tour faster than any player.

But prize money only accounts for about a tenth of his earnings with the rest coming from lucrative⁸ endorsement deals signed by the exceptionally popular player with companies that include Nike, Buick and Gillette.

The magazine said Woods would earn about $90 million in endorsement contracts this year. Over the course of his career, he has earned more than $750 million from such deals.

据美国《福布斯》杂志介绍，美国高尔夫天王“老虎”伍兹有望成为世界体坛首位亿万富翁，这将是一个经典的营销神话。据负责编撰年度全球富豪榜的《福布斯》杂志介绍，伍兹在2007年赚得1.15亿美元，预计他在2010年的收入将突破10亿美元。尽管受膝伤困扰，但32岁的伍兹仍赢得了上月美国公开赛的冠军。

本周三出版的《福布斯》杂志称，今年32岁的伍兹要实现收入突破十亿，还需要一段时间，因为税金和管理费都要从比赛奖金和代言费中扣除。

这一结果是《福布斯》根据伍兹在1996年年度富豪榜上的估计收入计算出来的。当年伍兹转为职业高尔夫球员，并被誉为世界头号高尔夫选手。

该杂志称：“基于以上这些标准，我们预计伍兹会在2011年跻身全球亿万富豪榜。这将是史无前例的壮举。”

《福布斯》杂志称，虽然有许多亿万富翁曾叱咤体坛，比如瑞士首富、帆船冠军恩尼斯托 贝塔瑞利，但还从没有人完全通过比赛积累过这么多财富。

伍兹在孩童时期就表现出了非凡的高尔夫天赋。最近他在美国公开赛中夺冠是他获得的第14个大满贯赛头衔；此外，他早已夺得50个高尔夫PGA巡回赛冠军，夺冠速度之快超过其他任何球员。

不过，这些比赛奖金只占伍兹总收入的十分之一，其余收入都来自耐克、别克及吉列等一些大公司与他签的巨额代言合同。

《福布斯》杂志称，伍兹今年的代言合同将近9000万美元。在伍兹的职业生涯中，有超过7.5亿美元的收入都是代言所得。