5. Tiger Woods, 2009
$10,508,163
After missing the final half of the 2008 season due to knee surgery, Woods returned to golf and showed flashes of his old self. However, Woods failed to win a major for the first time since 2004 – a run that continues to this day. He was caught and beaten by Y.E. Yang in the final round of the PGA Championship. But that would turn out to be only his second-lowest moment of the year.