'Hiatus' Woods "PGA Tour Bonus 9 Billion Won Jackpot Possible?"

Discussion on Introducing 'Player Impact Index Program' Distributing $40 Million Based on Popularity, Simulation Results Show Woods Ranked First

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] "Up to 8 million dollars (9 billion KRW)."

The 'Golf Emperor' Tiger Woods (USA, photo) has opened a path to hit a '9 billion KRW jackpot' while resting. This is through the PGA Tour's 'Player Influence Index Program.' On the 21st (Korean time), Golfweek in the US cited internal PGA Tour data and reported, "A plan is underway to distribute a huge amount of 40 million dollars (44.8 billion KRW) to popular players." Interestingly, the ranking is determined regardless of performance.

The keyword is popularity. It aggregates factors such as Google search frequency, exposure by professional organizations, public awareness and favorability surveys, and SNS followers. The higher the favorability, the more likely a player will rank at the top. In other words, players with a strong fan base like Woods, Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, and Rickie Fowler (all USA) can receive large bonuses even if their season performance is poor.

In fact, these five players ranked in the 'Top 5' in simulation results. Next were Jordan Spieth, world number one Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas (all USA), Justin Rose (England), and Adam Scott (Australia). Woods is currently 'on hiatus' due to a car accident, Koepka is also injured, and McIlroy, Mickelson, and Fowler have little presence. Some express concerns, saying, "They already earn enough money," and worry about conflicts over the popularity-based bonus criteria.

However, the European Tour already pays appearance fees based on popularity. The Saudi International, won by Johnson in February, is a prime example. By offering over 1 million dollars in appearance fees and providing 7-star hotel accommodations, they successfully attracted European stars as well as world stars like Johnson, 'Hulk' Bryson DeChambeau, Mickelson, and Patrick Reed (all USA). Woods previously received over 4 million dollars in appearance fees from the Middle East region.

This move by the PGA Tour is not unrelated to the launch of the new professional golf tour, the Premier Golf League (PGL). The World Golf Group (WGG) in New York declared, "We will launch a league with 18 tournaments totaling 240 million dollars (2.687 trillion KRW) in January 2022," but the plan has stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is noteworthy that only 48 players will participate without a 'cut-off.' This clearly shows the intention to select only 48 world stars. The PGA Tour is making efforts to protect its players.

Rory McIlroy

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.