Tiger Woods has won the PGA Tour's first Player Impact Program, a controversial $40 million program that rewards players based on their ability to attract fans, regardless of their performance on the course. Woods receives an $8 million bounty.

Player Impact Program: Tiger Woods wins $8M

©Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR

Woods has only appeared in one tournament in 2021, the PNC Championship in December, where he finished second with his son, Charlie. Woods narrowly edged out Phil Mickelson for the top prize. Mickelson receives $6 million for finishing second.

In a December 29 Twitter post that was widely picked up by the media, Mickelson claimed to have won the PIP. At the time, the PGA Tour confirmed to our colleagues at Golfweek that the program did not end until December 31 and that there was a lag of several weeks in the reported measurements, which means that the impact of Woods' presence at the PNC Championship had not yet been measured.

The final PIP rankings were verified by Grant Thornton and presented to the PGA Tour Board of Directors at a Tuesday night meeting in Winter Park, Florida. A PGA Tour spokesperson declined to confirm the accuracy of the final standings to Golfweek.

The Player Impact Program began in secret in January 2021. Its existence was revealed by Golfweek on April 20. The PIP uses a series of metrics designed to calculate a Tour player's level of fan engagement, including popularity in Google searches, Nielsen Brand Exposure Index, and Meltwater mentions, among others.

The creation of the PIP was seen as a reaction to the threat posed by the Saudi-funded Super Golf League, which tries to attract top players with guaranteed money. The PIP program represented the first time the PGA Tour offered bonuses to members that were not tied to their performance on the golf course.

In 2022, the PIP program will grow to $50 million.

List of winners of the Player Impact Program:

10: Bubba Watson: $3 million;

9: Jon Rahm: $3 million;

8: Brooks Koepka: $3 million;

7: Dustin Johnson: $3 million;

6: Justin Thomas: $3 million;

5: Bryson DeChambeau: $3 million;

4: Jordan Spieth: $3,5 million;

3: Rory McIlroy: $3,5 million;

2: Phil Mickelson: $6 million;

1: Tiger Woods: 8 million

To know more : https://www.pgatour.com

To read our last article on the same subject :

Phil Mickelson wins the Player Impact Program