Jordan Spieth believes PGA Tour’s PIP bonus will be eliminated،
NASSAU, Bahamas — The PGA Tour’s controversial Player Impact program was introduced in part to prevent top players from accepting lucrative contract offers to join the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League.
PGA Tour board member Jordan Spieth isn’t sure PIP can still do that and thinks the program could be eliminated in the future.
“I think his goal was to prevent players from accepting high-value Saudi offers, LIV offers,” Spieth said. “I think that’s the goal. If you see numbers being thrown at players now, to a few players in particular, that’s not really the case.”
The PIP was introduced in 2020-21 to reward members who generate the most positive influence during the tour. The tour formulated a scoring model, using objective metrics regarding internet searches, general awareness, social media reach and other factors, to quantify each player’s impact on the tour.
In a memo sent to golfers last week, PGA Tour executive vice president and chief player officer Jason Gore announced that Rory McIlroy had dethroned Tiger Woods in the 2023 PIP rankings and would receive $15 million of the $100 million dollars.
Woods, who finished first the previous two years when he was barely playing, finished second and will collect $12 million. Jon Rahm ($9 million) was third, followed by Spieth ($7.5 million), Scottie Scheffler ($6 million), Rickie Fowler ($5.5 million), Viktor Hovland ($5 million). ), Justin Thomas ($5 million), Tommy Fleetwood ($5 million). ) and Max Homa ($5 million).
The PGA Tour announced in March that the PIP bonus pool would be reduced to $50 million for the top 10 in 2024. It had previously paid $100 million to the top 20. According to the circuit, the remaining $50 million will be reallocated to others. player programs, including the FedEx Cup Bonus and the Comcast Business Tour Top 10.
“I think it was pretty unanimous, including those of us who benefited significantly from it, to reduce it and find a way to distribute those funds elsewhere to support, ideally, the fields, the scholarships, so you can still benefit individually, but finding the right balance,” Spieth said.
“And I’m not sure, I know it will halve next year. I don’t know what it will look like after that. I hope it doesn’t need to exist, I think it is the best way to put it. I think it makes everyone happy, including those who benefited from it, because there will be other ways to benefit from the performance and just be a great brand for the PGA Round. “
Some PGA Tour players have criticized the PIP program as nothing more than a popularity contest and a way for star players to get even richer. Shortly after Gore’s memo was sent to players last week, veteran Nate Lashley, ranked 188th in the world, criticized PIP on Instagram.
“How many golf fans actually know what PIP is on the PGA Tour?” Lashley wrote. “I would love to hear from golf/PGA fans if they think this $100 million was well spent?”
“There are 150 to 200 members of the PGA Tour and they just spent $100 million on 20 players. It seems a little ridiculous. It’s time for new leadership on the PGA Tour. It’s a coup. absolute footing for the rest of the PGA Tour players.”.
