McIlroy is ranked eighth in the world but his earning power has not been diminished by his drop in form on account of the £74million contracts signed with Nike and TaylorMade, both lasting 10 years.

Trailing £27million behind in second place in the list of stars aged 30 or under is Andy Murray, the former British number one whose tennis career is currently being interrupted by a troublesome hip problem that required surgery.

Murray, who turns 31 on Tuesday, is still bringing in large sums from sponsors such as Under Armour, Head, Standard Life and Jaguar, but his struggle with injury has significantly dented his on-court earnings hence a modest increase of £6million.

The rest of the 17-strong list is comprised of footballers with only unified world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua challenging their domination.

Joshua has accumulated £35million, a rise of £20million underpinned by £18million earned for defeating Joseph Parker, and he will surely climb higher than fifth in the coming years with big fights against Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury in the pipeline.

Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale begins the procession of footballers in the list with his £74million fortune securing him third place, largely thanks to his yearly after-tax Bernabau salary of £18.2million.

The first entry from the Premier League is a place behind in fourth with Sergio Aguero's £48million placing him well ahead of sixth-placed Eden Hazard, who is worth £32million.

The remainder of the top 10 are more closely bunched, but Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott, Paul Pogba and Juan Mata all earn in excess of £20million.

The sports stars make up 17 of the richest people aged 30 or under in the new edition of The Sunday Times Young Rich List, worth a combined £615m.

- PA