Jordan Spieth believes PGA Tour's PIP bonus will be eliminated - ESPN

NASSAU, Bahamas — The PGA Tour's controversial Player Impact Program was introduced in part to prevent top players from accepting lucrative contract offers to defect to the Saudi Arabian-funded LIV Golf League.

PGA Tour policy board member Jordan Spieth isn't sure PIP can still do that and believes the program might be eliminated sometime in the future.

«I think that its goal was to help prevent players from accepting high-dollar Saudi offers, LIV offers,» Spieth said. «I think that's the goal. If you're going to see numbers that are thrown out at players now, a couple specific players, it doesn't really do that.»

PIP was introduced in 2020-21 to reward members who generate the most positive influence in the tour. The tour formulated a scoring model, using objective measurements regarding internet searches, general awareness, social media reach and other factors, to quantify the impact each player has 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 standings and will receive $15 million of the $100 million pool.

Woods, who finished first the previous two years despite 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 to the top 10 finishers in 2024. It had previously paid $100 million to the top 20. According to the tour, the other $50 million