Injured Woods wins £6m for ‘social media contest’
Woods was named the first winner of the PGA Tour’s controversial Player Impact Program (PIP), an annual initiative set up to encourage player engagement with fans and sponsors
Tiger Woods has not swung a club in anger in an official tournament for more than a year but on Wednesday he picked up another winner’s cheque worth about £6 million.
Woods was named the first winner of the PGA Tour’s controversial Player Impact Program (PIP), an annual initiative set up to encourage player engagement with fans and sponsors and generating interest in the tour.
The ten biggest “needle-moving” players over the course of a calendar year were rewarded with a share of $40 million (about £30 million).
Woods, the 15-times major champion with tour career earnings in excess of $120 million, was in a life-threatening car crash in February 2021. He played only one unofficial tournament last year — the father-son PNC Championship.
Phil Mickelson, who has taken a break from golf after receiving intense criticism for his involvement in the Saudi-breakaway league, came second, winning $6 million (about £4.5 million).
The 51-year-old, who won the PGA Championship last year, announced in December that he had won the inaugural PIP on social media but came behind Woods in the eventual rankings.
Kevin Na, the American world No 29, tweeted in response: “Tiger Woods wins the $8Mil PIP! I’m all for paying @TigerWoods because he made us all richer but he didn’t hit 1 shot in 2021. @PGATOUR how is this possible? Also I thought @PhilMickelson won. Did this result have any affect in the last 2 weeks? haha”
The PIP bonus scheme has come under scrutiny because it does not take into account on-course performances, resulting in many labelling it as a “social media contest” restricted to already famous players.
It is believed it was set up as a direct PGA Tour response to the equally lucrative incentives of Saudi Arabia’s proposed Premier Golf League.
The PGA Tour said the metrics that formed the standings were based on five criteria: the number of times a player’s name was searched on the internet, the number of unique news articles a player’s name was included in, a player’s “social media score”, the duration of time a player’s sponsor logo appeared on television coverage, and a “player’s general awareness score among broad US population”.
Rory McIlroy came third, taking home a $3.5 million (about £2.6 million) bonus, while the world No 1 and US Open champion Jon Rahm won $3 million (about £2.25 million) as a result of coming ninth. Neither Hideki Matsuyama, the winner of the 2021 Masters, nor Collin Morikawa, last year’s Open champion, made the top ten.
Morikawa, the world No 2 who also became the first American to win the European (now DP World) Tour’s Race to Dubai, tweeted in response: “Woke up to still being #11 on PIP. But if you don’t believe me, too bad because anything after 10th doesn’t matter. Happy day #Co11in.” For 2022, the PIP’s bonus pool will increase to $50 million (about £37 million).
WINNERS
- Tiger Woods ($8 million)
- Phil Mickelson ($6 million)
- Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland ($3.5 million)
- Jordan Spieth ($3.5 million)
- Bryson DeChambeau ($3.5 million)
- Justin Thomas ($3.5 million)
- Dustin Johnson ($3 million)
- Brooks Koepka ($3 million)
- Jon Rahm, Spain ($3 million)
- Bubba Watson ($3 million)
