ORLANDO, Fla. — In an off-the-course chapter of the enduring rivalry between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, Woods as soon as once more bested Mickelson.
Woods, who has not performed a tour occasion because the Masters in November 2020, earned the most important bonus fee from a brand new PGA Tour program meant to measure a participant’s attraction and recognition throughout the calendar yr. For 2021, as calculated by analyzing classes that included TV rankings, web searches and social media posts, Woods garnered the $8 million prime prize even regardless of not enjoying due to severe leg accidents he sustained in a February 2021 automotive crash. Mickelson will obtain $6 million for coming in second.
In December, Mickelson had shocked the golf neighborhood by saying that he had received the highest award for the tour’s Participant Impression Program, or PIP.
On Twitter, Mickelson thanked “all of the crazies (and actual supporters too)” for his first-place payout. On Wednesday, Woods had a comeback.
For Mickelson, who grew to become golf’s oldest main champion when he received final yr’s P.G.A. Championship at age 50, receiving solely a $6 million bonus might not qualify as dangerous information, however ending second to a golfer who didn’t play all yr felt like a setback in a turbulent few weeks for him.
In mid-February, feedback attributed to Mickelson in help of a breakaway golf tour backed by Saudi Arabia created controversy and backlash. Mickelson was quoted as saying he knew of the dominion’s “horrible document on human rights,” however was prepared to assist the brand new league as a result of it was a “once-in-a-lifetime alternative” to dramatically improve PGA Tour gamers’ earnings.
The next week Mickelson stated he regretted his remarks, which he referred to as “reckless.” He added that he would take a depart from aggressive golf. Inside days, his chief company sponsors, together with KPMG, Workday and Heineken/Amstel, introduced that they have been both ending or pausing their partnerships with Mickelson.
On Wednesday, the tour additionally introduced the opposite eight winners of the PGA’s recognition contest. Rory McIlroy got here in third adopted by Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas, with every incomes $3.5 million. The golfers from seventh to tenth — Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Bubba Watson — will acquire $3 million every.
At a information convention, McIlroy was congratulated for ending third. He shrugged his shoulders, grinned and supplied a sheepish “thanks.”
Requested if he felt there have been any surprises within the prime 10 cash winners, McIlroy, who has been pleasant with Woods for a number of years, answered: “Probably not. I imply, you take a look at the ten guys which are on there, and so they’re the ten guys which were on the prime of the sport or have been across the prime of the sport for a very long time. I really feel prefer it’s a fairly self-explanatory system. That’s how the numbers form of rolled out.”
He added: “However it’s definitely not one thing that I’m checking up on each week to see the place I’m at.”
McIlroy, who has more and more develop into a forthright voice in golf, has been strident in his criticism of Mickelson’s feedback on the choice Saudi-backed league final month, however on Wednesday he sounded conciliatory.
“Look, all of us make errors,” he stated of Mickelson. “All of us say issues we wish to take again. Nobody is completely different in that regard. However we needs to be allowed to make errors, and we needs to be allowed to apologize and for individuals to forgive us and transfer on. Hopefully, he comes again at some stage, and he’ll, and other people will welcome him again and be glad that he’s again.”
