Some things change, and some things stay the same.
Scottie Scheffler dominated the world of golf in 2024, winning nine times worldwide, including the Masters, Olympic golf and the Tour Championship to claim the FedEx Cup for the first time. But when it came to moving the needle for the PGA Tour, even Scheffler couldn’t top the Big Cat.
Tiger Woods won the 2024 Player Impact Program, Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal reported Monday. It’s the third time in the four years of the PIP that Tiger has won the program, which was created to award golfers who generate the most positive interest in the PGA Tour. With the win, Woods was awarded $10 million.
He played in only five official events in 2024, making the cut at the Masters, withdrawing from the Genesis Invitational and missing the cut at the next three majors. He and his son, Charlie, finished runner-up in a playoff loss to Bernhard and Jason Langer at the silly-season PNC Championship, but as the PIP showed, Woods remains the needle in professional golf.
Scheffler finished second in the standings, taking home $8.5 million. Rory McIlroy, who won the PIP in 2023, was third and collected $4.5 million. Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth and Collin Morikawa were also awarded $4.5 million, while Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood and Wyndham Clark each pocketed $3.5 million from the program.
Last year McIlroy was awarded $15 million for winning the 2023 PIP, but for 2024 the total prize pool was cut in half to $50 million and reduced from 20 players to 10.
This year the PIP is being replaced with the Player Equity Program, which makes all players eligible to receive equity grants. A memo stated, “The recurring player equity grants are incremental to the initial grants, are in the aggregate amount of $600 million, and are planned to be awarded in the amounts of $100 million each year starting with the 2025 PGA Tour Season and continuing through the 2030 PGA Tour Season (at a minimum). It is important to note that all PGA Tour members are eligible to receive recurring grants – regardless of whether or not they received an initial grant. These recurring grants will reward future top performers and will be based on last 3-year performance, last year performance and Player Impact Program results.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Tiger Woods wins PIP, $10 million prize in program’s final year
