The results of this year’s Player Impact Program (PIP) award are not expected to be confirmed for several weeks, but, according to a report from the AP's Doug Ferguson, Tiger Woods will claim the honour for the second year running, with Rory McIlroy taking second place.
The 15-time Major winner beat Phil Mickelson to first prize in 2021. That was in spite of him not playing a tournament as he recovered from a career-threatening leg injury sustained in a car accident at the start of the year.
While Woods has played three tournaments in 2022, it is still far fewer than McIlroy, who has enjoyed a hugely successful year, which included top-10 finishes in all four Majors and a record-breaking third FexEx Cup win. As for Woods, his best-placed finish in 2022 was 47th in his comeback tournament, the Masters at Augusta National. Since that performance, his ongoing injury issues have been more apparent. He withdrew from the PGA Championship after three rounds and missed the cut at the 150th Open at St Andrews in July.
Of course, the bonus, which this year has a prize pool of $100m, up from last year’s $40m, does not take into account performance but rather metrics determining which players have resonated the most with fans and the media. Those include broadcast exposure and media mentions. Meanwhile, as well as the significantly increased prize pool, the 2022 award has also been expanded to include the top 20 players rather than the top 10.
While McIlroy confirmed he had finished top in all but one category that determines the PIP award, it appears it has not been enough to finish ahead of one of the legends of the game. Nevertheless, it has been an extremely lucrative year for the 33-year-old, with his PIP money seeing his earnings soar to $40,354,566.
Earlier in the week, it was confirmed that Woods will team up with McIlroy for the seventh edition of The Match - an exhibition tournament where the pair will take on Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.
