The purse for the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program continues to swell, but as with everything, the added cash has brought added strings.
For example, at the Tour Championship, commissioner Jay Monahan explained that players would be eligible for their share of the $100 million in bonus money only if they played in the 13 elevated events plus three more of their choosing during the upcoming 2023 season.
Of course, a key component of the Tour’s PIP is engagement, or using social media to keep one’s name relevant.
That got us thinking, with the year coming to a close, which of the PIP recipients were searched the most in 2022?
Overlooking the possibility of a late push (these numbers are from Jan. 1 to Dec. 17), here’s the list of PIP recipients who fans Googled over the past 12 months.
20
Shane Lowry
PIP: 12th – $3,000,000
Tied-19, but lost the YouTube tiebreaker
19
Adam Scott
PIP: 17th – $2,000,000
Tied-19th, but won YouTube tiebreaker over Shane Lowry
18
Billy Horschel
PIP: 15th – $3,000,000
Tied 16th, but lost YouTube search tiebreaker
17
Jason Day
PIP: 18th – $2,000,000
Tied 16th, beat Billy Horschel in YouTube search tiebreaker
16
Kevin Kisner
PIP: 13th – $3,000,000
Tied 16th, won YouTube search tiebreaker against Billy Horschel and Jason Day
15
Xander Schauffele
PIP: 7th – $5,000,000
14
Patrick Cantlay
PIP: 19th – $2,000,000
13
Max Homa
PIP: 14th – $3,000,000
12
Will Zalatoris
PIP: 9th – $5,000,000
11
Matt Fitzpatrick
PIP: 8th – $5,000,000
Tied 10th, but lost YouTube search tiebreaker. Big US Open search bump
10
Viktor Hovland
PIP: 20th – $2,000,000
Tied 10th, won YouTube search tiebreaker against Matt Fitzpatrick
9
Collin Morikawa
PIP: 11th – $3,000,000
8
Jon Rahm
PIP: 5th – $6,000,000
7
Tony Finau
PIP: 10th – $5,000,000
6
Rickie Fowler
PIP: 16th – $2,000,000
5
Justin Thomas
PIP: 4th – $7,500,000
4
Jordan Spieth
PIP: 3rd – $9,000,000
3
Scottie Scheffler
PIP: 6th – $5,500,000
Tied 2nd, but lost YouTube search tiebreaker. Big Masters bump
2
Rory McIlroy
PIP: 2nd – $12,000,000
Tied 2nd, but won YouTube search tiebreaker against Scottie Scheffler
1
Tiger Woods
PIP: 1st – $15,000,000
4x more search than any other golfer on this list
