Tiger scoops PGA Tour's $8 million popularity prize ... without playing in over 12 months

Tiger Woods hasn't played in a US PGA Tour event in more than a year, but the golf great still won the inaugural Player Impact Program bonus that rewards a player's popularity.

The 15-time major champion collects a $8 million top prize, the tour announced on Wednesday.

Six-time major winner Phil Mickelson, who had appeared to indicate in a December social media post that he had finished first, finished second for a $6 million bonus -- and a Twitter poke from Woods.

"Whoops," Woods tweeted, along with a screenshot of Mickelson's December post in which he thanked "all the crazies and real supporters too, who helped me win the PIP."

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and Americans Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas will all receive $3.5 million from the $50 million PIP bonus pool.

Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and world number one Jon Rahm of Spain each collect $3 million.

The program rewards 10 players based on an "impact score" determined by their popularity in internet searches, the number of unique news articles that include a player's name, a social media score based on a player's reach, conversation and engagement metrics, television sponsor exposure and a "general awareness" score among a broad US population.

Not all players are fans of what amounts to a popularity contest. Reigning FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay is among those who would prefer to see tour bonuses based on on-course performance.

"I think I'm old-school in the respect that I would like the money to be doled out relative to play, and I don't think the PIP does that," Cantlay said last month.

"It may be the first departure that the tour has had from rewarding good play to rewarding social media or popularity presence, so I don't like that