Rory McIlroy has beaten Tiger Woods to the PGA Tour’s $15m (£11.9m) prize for generating the most media interest in 2023.
Northern Irish golfer McIlroy pipped the 15-time major winner to the top spot on the tour’s Player Impact Programme’ (PIP), which is designed to reward players that have the largest impact on the PGA Tour business via ticket sales, sponsorships, media consumption and fan engagement and drive interest in the PGA Tour and the game of golf.
World number two McIlroy, who recently resigned from the tour’s policy board, pipped his business partner Woods who won it in 2021 and 2022 despite injury-plagued years.
Woods earned $12m (£9.5m) through the PIP this year with the total prize pool totalling $100m (79.2m). The pool was distributed amongst 20 players.
Jason Gore, Executive Vice President and Chief Player Officer at the PGA Tour, said, “The scoring model for the Program is intended to be as objective as possible with the goal of quantifying the impact each player has on the PGA TOUR.”
The top ten earners from the 2023 Player Impact Program were:
1. Rory McIlroy, $15 million (£11.9m)
2. Tiger Woods, $12 million (£9.5m)
3. Jon Rahm, $9 million (£7.1m)
4. Jordan Spieth, $7 million (£5.5m)
5. Scottie Scheffler, $6 million (£4.8m)
6. Rickie Fowler, $5.5 million (£4.4m)
7. Viktor Hovland, $5 million (£4m)
8. Justin Thomas, $5 million (£4m)
9. Tommy Fleetwood, $5 million (£4m)
10. Max Homa, $5 million (£4m)
Woods and McIlroy have recently launched an indoor golf league, TGL, however their inaugural season has been postponed to 2025 due to serious venue damage.
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