Tiger Woods beats Phil Mickelson to land $8m bonus and top PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program
Woods only played in one tournament last year, the PNC Championship in December, but still appealed most to fans over his long-standing rival, with Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Bryson DeChambeau also rewarded
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Your support makes all the difference.Tiger Woods beat out Phil Mickelson to top the PGA Tour's inaugural Player Impact Program and secure the highest bonus of $8 million (£6m) for the 2021 season.
That is despite Woods only playing in one tournament last year, finishing second with his son Charlie at the PNC Championship in December, after recovering from injuries suffered in the severe car crash.
While Mickelson, currently in dispute with the Tour over a potential move to the Saudi-backed Super Golf League, landed a bonus of $6m (£4.5m).
Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Bryson DeChambeau rounded out the top five, all collecting an extra $3.5m (£2.6m), while the world No 1 player Jon Rahm was just ninth in the standings.
The Tour devised a method to reward the most attractive players to the fans and their levels of fan engagement last year.
The move was seen as a counter to the increased money on offer from Saudi Arabia.
There are five categories used to measure each player’s pull: Google, Meltwater mentions, Nielsen Brand Exposure, Q-Score and MVP Index.
Woods led in three of the five categories Tour with DeChambeau, fifth overall, topping the Nielsen rankings, and Bubba Watson, ranked 10th overall, topping the MVP Index.
PGA Tour Player Impact Program 2021
- Tiger Woods - $8m
- Phil Mickelson - $6m
- Rory McIlroy - $3.5m
- Jordan Spieth - $3.5m
- Bryson DeChambeau - $3.5m
- Justin Thomas - $3.5m
- Dustin Johnson - $3m
- Brooks Koepka - $3m
- Jon Rahm - $3m
- Bubba Watson - $3m
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