There was a lot of noise generated by Tiger Woods decision to play in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship last week in the United Arab Emirates instead of the PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines in San Diego where he customarily starts his US schedule and where he has won six times. Considering that the prize money offered in Abu Dhabi was less than half of that offered in San Diego that would seem an odd choice.

It wasn’t an odd choice bearing in mind that the Abu Dhabi event was sanctioned by the European Tour which allows appearance fees, or more precisely does not specifically prohibit them, unlike the US PGA Tour.

Woods essentially admitted that the rumored $1,5 million (USD) appearance fee he received to play the event influenced his decision, “I'd have to say yes, it certainly does. That's one of the reasons why a lot of the guys who play in Europe, they do play in Europe, and they do get paid. I think the only tour that doesn't pay is the U.S. Tour."

After that brief moment of candor, Woods returned to his disingenuous default mode by saying "I've tried to make it a requisite that I'm playing different places throughout the year and playing new events," he said. "This is a new event for me. I've never played here before, and this is exciting for me." Yep, and I’m sure he will be happy to play any new events in different places as soon as the $1,5 million appearance fees clear at the bank.

As it turned out Woods new Sean Foley swing couldn’t hold up under the pressure of a Sunday final group pairing, hitting only 2 of 14 fairways, and losing to English journeyman Robert (Like A) Rock.

Appearance fees were also paid out to World No. 1 Luke Donald. Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer, although of varying and considerably lesser amounts than Woods.

To understand the amounts being thrown around off the golf course these days the recent Golf Digest article ranking the top 50 money makers illustrates just how much.

Woods, who has dominated the top money list for years, still occupies that position though at a much lower level than before his November 2009 public unraveling. His numbers fell from over $10 million on course earnings and $100 million off course to $2 million and $62 million respectively for 2011. Phil Mickelson was next with $4 million on-course and $42 million off.

It was interesting to note that four of the top eight on the list are no longer active tournament golfers; Arnold Palmer, at age 82 and number 3 on the list didn’t make a dime on course but still raked in $36 million off course. Jack Nicklaus, 72, was behind Palmer with $29 million, Greg Norman, 56 was 5th with $23 million and the ageless Gary Player was 8th.

The top Euro was Luke Donald at #6 who pulled down over $13 million in prize money by leading both the US and European tours in winnings and also took in $8.5 million in endorsements. Sergio Garcia, who many felt was having an off year and even took a sabbatical still managed to pocket $3.6 million on course and $16 million off to finish in 9th place.

Rounding out the top 10 was Bill Haas who had only $1 million in endorsements but took in over $14 million on course, the majority of which was from the $10 million Fed Ex Cup bonus and his one win at the Tour Championship.

In a ranking that is sure to change in 2012, Rory McIlroy came in right behind Haas. Having left Chubby Chandler’s agency, it appears McIlroy wants to capitalize more on his burgeoning status in the game and surely will.

The top ranked woman, Yani Tseng, finished at #46 with $3.5 on course and $2.2 off. Annika Sorenstam had the most off course income for a woman at $5.5 million to finish at #48 and the ebullient Paula Creamer came in at #50 with a million in earnings and $4.5 million in endorsements.