One of the all-time greatest seasons in PGA Tour history, a second Masters victory, an Olympic Gold Medal, the birth of a child that was seemingly imminent for a full month and, of course, an arrest, mug-shot picture in an orange jump suit, talk of a potential prison sentence and immediate return to shoot 66 in a major championship, Scottie Scheffler had quite the eventful year.
But not as eventful as Tiger Woods – at least from the PGA Tour Player Impact Program standpoint.
I think I speak for just about everybody when I say that the PIP ceasing to exist from this point forwards is a blessing because it is, and you’ll have to pardon my French, a complete crock of sh*t.
Woods played five times in 2024, withdrawing midway through round two of the Genesis Invitational through illness and missed the cut at the PGA Championship by eight shots, at the US Open by two and at the Open Championship by eight again. He did, of course, make history at Augusta National by making the cut for the 24th consecutive attempt, but even then, he was a non-factor over the weekend and finished dead last of the 60 players who made it through the halfway chop.
Now, few people love Tiger more than I. In many ways, I owe my profession to him and in part the rekindling of my love for a game that I’d watched and played as a child but had drifted away from in my early teens, but come on, he’s been a ghost for most of the year. That’s not his fault, of course. His body can’t cope – or at least it couldn’t last year – and his appearances at the PNC Championship and in the commentary booth at the Hero World Challenge should, in no way, be enough to elevate him above Scheffler in the impact standings.
Should I really care? No. Whether Woods gets $10 million and Scheffler gets $8 million rather than the other way round makes no real difference to you or I, nor to Scottie or Tiger. Is it hypocritical to say that something is a complete farce yet write about it anyway? Yeah, it is. I’ll admit that.
But what is worth talking about is that, if one of the all-time great seasons plus one of the all-time most bonkers off-the-course – kind of, because it happened at the gates of a major championship venue on day two of the tournament – stories aren’t enough to have the number one player on the PGA Tour and in golf to be talked about more than somebody who’s effectively become a clothing salesman and a back room negotiator who plays a little golf, then it says a lot about professional golf and PGA Tour golf in particular.
It would be interesting to see where Bryson DeChambeau would’ve landed in the rankings had he been eligible with everything above board. His ‘Breaking 50’ collaboration with Donald Trump has over 13 million views and his channel itself has been watched more than more than 255 million times. And that doesn’t include his Instagram attempts to make a hole-in-one over his house which was the biggest talking point in golf for the guts of a week in late November.
And of course, on top of that, he came out on top in the most electric major championship final round we’ve witnessed in some time, beating the 2023 PIP winner in the process.
Anyway, the PIP as we new it, is dead and from it’s ashes rises the PEP (Player Equity Program) following the creation of PGA Tour Enterprises, and, having been reduced to $50 million divided between 10 players in 2024 for the PIP’s final year, the PEP will be increased to $100 million divided between 20 players annually until 2030.
Of course, by then Woods will likely be riding a cart around on the Champions Tour circuit which will be catnip for all, so Scheffler might have to be framed for murder along with winning 10 times a year to unseat the Big Cat from his throne.
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