Dec 19, 2021; Orlando, Florida, USA; Tiger Woods sharing a laugh with his caddie on the third tee box during the final round of the PNC Championship golf tournament at Grande Lakes Orlando Course. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-USA TODAY Sports
By Sean Keeley on

Back in December, Phil Mickelson tweeted that he’d already won the year-long Player Impact Program (PIP), which the PGA Tour created to reward players who bring the most interest to the game. Like so many things recently, Phil probably would have been better off keeping his mouth shut.

Determining the winner of the PIP is based on five categories: Google searches, Meltwater Mentions (global media exposure), MPV Index (social media reach), (network broadcast exposure), and Q-Score (familiarity and appeal). While players were made aware of where they ranked, they were not provided with the official numbers and scores along the way.

At the time of Mickelson’s tweet, the PGA Tour responded by saying that the results will not be official until around mid-February. It turns out it took until March 2 to announce the final numbers and…well, the winner was not Phil.

Despite the fact that Tiger Woods hasn’t played in an official PGA event in a year and a half, the legendary golfer, and Phil’s biggest rival, was named the winner. Oops.

Woods came in first in Google Search, Meltwater Mentions, and Q-Score, making him pretty unbeatable. Phil came in 2nd place thanks to a strong Nielsen score and MVP Index, but it simply wasn’t enough to overcome the juggernaut. Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Bryson DeChambeau rounded out the top five.

Because of their rankings, Woods earns $8 million, Mickelson earned $ 6 million, and everyone else in the top ten earned around $3 million.

Mickelson made waves in recent weeks, blasting the PGA Tour and throwing his support behind the budding rival Super Golf League. However, some particularly tasteless comments painted him as greedy and self-serving. The golfer has since apologized for prior statements, but in his apology, Mickelson maintained that “golf desperately needs change, and real change is always preceded by disruption.” Since then, he got dunked on by plenty of critics and fans, not to mention fellow PGA players.

So given the way Mickelson’s reputation has been sullied in recent weeks, a lot of people took delight in Tiger’s tweet Wednesday morning about the PIP announcement.

You can’t say Phil didn’t bring this one on himself. Again.

As many pointed out, this tweet alone might have just locked up the 2022 PIP for Woods as well.

[Tiger Woods, Golf Channel]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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