Tiger Woods wins PGA’s Player Impact Program award

Tiger Woods, the “Emperor of Golf,” still reigns, even though he has not played on the PGA Tour since 2020.

Tiger Woods won the inaugural Player Impact Program (PIP) award, and was awarded 8 million dollars. The PIP, which was introduced by the PGA Tour for the first time this year, measures a player’s ability to generate media interest based on metrics compiled from the analysis of internet searches, articles, social media, sponsor exposure, TV awareness among the population. The result has nothing to do with a player’s performance on the course.

Since a terrible car crash in February 2021, Woods has not been able to compete for an entire year, yet he managed to top the PIP list. Still recovering from the leg injury, Tiger Woods competed with his son Charlie in a PNC Championship held in December 2021, which averaged 2.3 million viewers, up a staggering 53 percent from a year earlier (1.5 million). PGA Tour said that considering Wood’s golf popularity, it is not surprising that he finished atop in terms of internet searches and public awareness. The PGA Tour added, the results were still remarkable, given that Woods had been out of the spotlight for more than a half year.

Phil Mickelson, was second and earned 6 million dollars, followed by Rory McIlory, Jordan Spieth, and Bryson DeChambeau, winning 3.5 million dollars each. Players from No. 7 to No. 10 will collect 3 million dollar bonuses each. The PGA Tour announced that it would raise the total amount of award to 50 million dollars in 2023 from this year’s 40 million dollars.


Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com