Fresh from his bumper payday for winning a fourth DP World Tour title, Rory McIlroy is in the money again .
The PGA Tour have announced their PIP reward scheme winners for the top 20 players who, according to the Tour, “generate the most positive interest in the PGA Tour.”
Holywood star McIlroy, back to world No.1, has been awarded €11.6 million or £10.01 million after coming in second place in their PIP rankings.
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Incredibly, that is not even the biggest payday this year for McIlroy after he earned €18m for winning the FedEx Cup.
The PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program (PIP) has been part of the Tour’s focus on these elite pros who, in the LIV era, have found themselves with more bargaining power.
The PIP’s prizemoney was bumped up from $50 million to $100 million this year to be spread across 20 players. Those 20 stars were chosen through “objective measurement criteria” via five categories.
To be eligible for the PIP you need to be a current PGA Tour member “in good standing” who has played in at least five Tour events in at least one of the last five seasons.
Following that, you get evaluated under the following criteria:
Nielsen Brand Exposure: How much are you on TV? This measures “live coverage for linear broadcasts” for third and fourth rounds of Tour events plus notable others like the Presidents Cup. “Cumulative exposure” is the goal here. Sneaky incentive for a lengthy putting routine.
Google Search Data: Cumulative search data “as reported by Google.” Sneaky incentive to stir up some drama.
Media Mentions: The “Meltwater” program tracks media mentions. In other words, how often are players the subjects of news articles?
Q-Score: A player’s “general awareness” among the U.S. population. This seems to take some time to accumulate; younger players don’t generally fare as well.
MVP Index: A social media score that considers a player’s “reach, conversation and engagement metrics.”
Tiger Woods again topped the rankings despite having not played a PGA Tour event and was awarded €14.6m.
The exodus of a number of LIV golfers certainly benefitted the likes of Shane Lowry with the Offaly man not featuring last year on the list but this year he picks up one of the biggest cheques of his career with €2.9 million.
But with the likes of Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka all out of the way means Lowry was able to strike it rich.
2022 PGA Tour PIP Standings:
1. Tiger Woods €14,600,000
2. Rory McIlroy €11,650,000
3. Jordan Spieth €8,750,000
4. Justin Thomas €7,300,000
5. Jon Rahm €5,820,000
6. Scottie Scheffler €5,340,000
7. Xander Schauffele $5,000,000
8. Matt Fitzpatrick €4,850,000
9. Will Zalatoris €4,850,000
10. Tony Finau €4,850,000
11. Collin Morikawa €2,900,000
12. Shane Lowry €2,900,000
13. Kevin Kisner €2,900,000
14. Max Homa €2,900,000
15. Billy Horschel €2,900,000
16. Rickie Fowler €1,950,000
17. Adam Scott €1,950,000
18. Jason Day €1,950,000
19. Patrick Cantlay €1,950,000
20. Viktor Hovland €1,950,000
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