June 18, 2011 (AHN)

Though his game has deteriorated in recent years and some of his endorsers have deserted him, Tiger Woods continuous his hold atop the Fortunate 50 list of top-earning American athletes for 2011.

According to the eighth edition of Sports Illustrated.com's feature compilation, former No. 1 golfer Woods remains at No.1 for the eight straight year.

With his struggles to find his groove coupled with injury issues, Wood's reign at No. 1 remains shaky. He retained the top spot with a total of earnings of $62,294,116, with $60,000,000 coming from endorsements.

Closely trailing Woods at second place is Phil Mickelson with a $61,185,933 total. Mickelson also came in second to Woods last year.

Moving up to No. 3 from fourth place last year is Miami Heat's star forward LeBron James, one of four NBA players on the top 10 of the said list.

James, who totaled $44,500,000, is joined in the top 10 by Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, who climbed to No. 6 from No. 7; Boston's Kevin Garnett, who vaulted from No. 15 last year to seventh place, and Magic star center Dwight Howard, who moved to tenth spot after placing No. 12 last year.

Meanwhile, Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning led the NFL charge in the first 10 of the list with a total of $38,070,000 that is good for No. 4th place. Manning ranked No. 9 last year.

Taking fifth spot with $36,000,000 is Yankees star slugger Alex Rodriguez, the lone MLB player in the top 10. A-Rod also placed fifth in last year's compilation.

Atlanta Falcons signal-caller Matt Ryan was ranked No. 8 and is followed by Tom Brady of the New England Patriots at No. 9.

The 2011 list features 19 NBA players, 17 baseball players, eight NFL players, three NASCAR drivers and three from golf.

According to SI.com, the results comprised of salary, winnings, bonuses and appearance fees that were based from players' associations, tour records, agents and news reports.

Endorsements were also considered with estimates for 2011 coming from Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing, other sports-marketing executives and analysts, and agents. Formula Money provided endorsement estimates for entries from NASCAR.

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