Shot of the year from the 2010 Masters - Phil Mickelson

With every great championship, comes a shot that defines the whole thing. For this year's US Masters champion, it was this peach at the 13th.

Why was this shot so good? Well, for one, it required sublime shot-shaping abilities to keep it low and whip it around the trees. It also required nerves of steel and great guts to go for it when he could have simply chipped out and gone for par or bogey.

This is around 200 yards out, there's a creek in the way, he's playing off the pine cones and he's gunning for a major on the last day. Kudos to you, Phil Mickelson.

Enjoy!

Golfers are America's richest athletes

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson once again top SI.com's Fortunate 50 list of the 50 highest earning athletes in America.

However the average income for athletes has dropped for the first time in six years, though it still weighs in at a cool $23.6 million.

Tiger Woods earned just under $100 million whilst "Lefty" Phil Mickelson earned $52 million. Despite the huge sums of money, this represents a drop for both involved as on-course prize money drops as well as off-course endorsement deals dry up.

Woods has lost a lucrative Buick deal whilst Mickelson lost a deal with Ford. This can largely be blamed on the global economic downturn.

The only other golfer to make the list was Jim Furyk at #41 - he earned $16.2 million.

For more info, go here.

Golfers with most second place finishes in majors

Sure, sure, everyone is interested in the big guys - the 18 majors for for Nicklaus or the 14 for Woods. But what about the guys that have finished second a lot? Is second place first loser or just the guy who challenged hard and missed out?

Who would you think had finished second the most? Take a look at the list and see for yourself:

Jack Nicklaus - 19
Greg Norman - 8
Sam Snead - 7
Tom Watson - 7
Ernie Els - 6
Ben Hogan - 6
Phil Mickelson - 6
Byron Nelson - 6
Gary Player - 6
Harry Vardon - 6
Ben Crenshaw - 5
Raymond Floyd - 5
Byron Nelson - 5
Arnold Palmer - 5
Tiger Woods - 5
Billy Casper - 4
Seve Ballesteros - 3
David Duval - 3
Sergio Garcia - 3
Walter Hagen - 3
Bobby Jones - 3
Tom Kite - 3
Gene Sarazen - 3
Fred Couples - 2
Nick Faldo - 2
Jim Furyk - 2
Retief Goosen - 2
Bernhard Langer - 2
Davis Love III - 2
Nick Price - 2
Curtis Strange - 2
Lee Trevino - 2

Only players that have finished second twice or more were included. If we missed anybody then leave a comment and we'll check the history books!

Perry tells big stars to play more

PGA Tour stalwart Kenny Perry has called out big stars Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to play more - and increase the pot for everyone.

"We've all been sitting around in the locker room, wondering what the future of the PGA Tour is going to be and what it's going to look like in five years," said Perry, 13 times PGA victor.

"It's tough out there, and it's up to us to help promote it. We need upper-echelon guys to really step up. I know that sounds a little unfair to Tiger (Woods) and Phil (Mickelson), but those guys are going to have to step in and help us out."

So let me get this straight - he wants the really talented and big name guys to help the just-plain-old-talented guys earn a whole lot more money via the additional exposure they bring? Finishing second behind Tiger could well be more lucrative than finishing first to a field of journeymen...