Rory McIlroy bags the $15,000,000 PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program bonus 

Rory McIlroy's season may have ended a week ago, but the cash register is still ringing. This Wednesday it was announced that another $15,000,000 was on its way to the Northern Irishman's bank account.

McIlroy was ranked first in the 2023 PGA Tour's Players Impact Program (PIP), which comes with a $15 million bonus. The Northern Irishman surpassed none other than legend Tiger Woods, who finished second.

This new accolade for Rory McIlroy and 19 other PGA Tour players was announced in a memo signed by PGA Tour Executive Vice President and Chief Player Officer Jason Gore. It was released by fellow organization member Nate Lashley, through social media.

In the document, it was also informed that the prize money will be received by the players in two parts. The 75% will be given to them together with what they win in The Sentry Tournament of Champions and the other 25% after they finish their Player Impact Program Service Fulfilment.

Rory McIlroy had a season of two victories on the PGA Tour (The CJ Cup and The Scottish Open) and one on the DP World Tour (Hero Dubai Desert Classic). Besides this, he won the DP World Tour's Race to Dubai and finished 4th in the FedEx Cup, among many other relevant results.

After adding this amount, Rory McIlroy's income during the 2022-2023 season totals $44.9 million, $32.9 million corresponding to his results on the PGA Tour and $12 million for what he did on the DP World Tour. This money doesn't take into account what the Northern Irishman could have earned for other concepts (like sponsorship or advertising).

What is the Player Impact Program that has just awarded Rory McIlroy?

The Player Impact Program (PIP) is a PGA Tour initiative that seeks to reward the players who give the most visibility to the tour, such as those who have the best impact on the business.

The criteria for ranking players are based on a five-point scale, which is as follows (via Golf Digest):

• Google searches: The amount of time a player’s name is searched for
• Meltwater mentions: Tracks how often a player is mentioned across global media
• MVP Index: A measure of a player’s reach on social media
• Nielsen score: How often a player is featured on the television broadcast
• Q-Score: A decades-old measure of an entity’s familiarity and appeal.

The program currently has a $100 million fund and rewards the top 20 players ranked according to the above criteria. It began in 2021 with a $40 million fund to be distributed among the top 10 players.

The timing of the PIP's emergence coincided with the birth of LIV Golf. Since then, it has had quite a few detractors, who refer, mainly, that these funds would have better use in the development of talent in training.