Bill Haas statement on fatal car accident in California

He didn’t play much, but he still moved the needle. Tiger Woods was No. 1 in the 2022 PGA TOUR Player Impact Program (PIP) for the second straight year, the 82-time TOUR winner earning the top impact bonus of $15 million. Rory McIlroy, who won the FedExCup for an unprecedented third time, returned to world No. 1, and over the weekend captured the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai, finished second ($12 million). A memo with the results went out to players early Tuesday afternoon. Jordan Spieth ($9 million), Justin Thomas ($7.5 million), Jon Rahm ($6 million), Scottie Scheffler ($5.5 million), Xander Schauffele ($5 million), Matt Fitzpatrick ($5 million), Will Zalatoris ($5 million) and Tony Finau ($5 million) rounded out the top 10. The second-year PIP program paid out to the top 20 finishers, double what it did in its first year. However, three additional players who would have made the list under the slightly amended criteria that will go into effect in 2023 were also recognized, bringing the total to 23. The program is designed to reward members who – through objective measurement criteria – are shown to generate the most positive interest in the PGA TOUR. In addition to expanding from 10 to 20 players, payouts were expanded to $100 million. The 2022 PIP ranking was based on objective, third-party data measurement of: 1) Internet Searches: Number of times a player’s name is searched using Google 2) Earned Media: Number of unique news articles that include a player’s name 3) TV Sponsor Exposure: Duration (time) that a player’s sponsor logo(s) appeared on screen during Saturday and Sunday PGA TOUR telecasts 4) Awareness: A player’s general awareness score among broad U.S. population 5) Social Media: Social media score that considers a player’s reach, conversation and engagement metrics Nos. 11-20 on the list were made up of Collin Morikawa ($3 million), Shane Lowry ($3 million), Kevin Kisner ($3 million), Max Homa ($3 million), Billy Horschel ($3 million), Rickie Fowler ($2 million), Adam Scott ($2 million), Jason Day ($2 million), Patrick Cantlay ($2 million) and Viktor Hovland ($2 million). Because the criteria will be slightly modified for 2023, and three additional players – Hideki Matsuyama (11), Cameron Young (15), and Sam Burns (20) – would have qualified with those adjustments, they made this year’s list and will each earn $2 million. Woods, who will be 47 at the end of next month, continues to recover from injury. He has teed it up three times in 2022, making the cut at the Masters Tournament (47th), making the cut again but withdrawing with leg pain after three rounds at the PGA Championship, and missing the cut at The Open Championship. He was not in the field for the BMW Championship in August, but flew to Wilmington, Delaware, for a transformative player meeting prior to the start of the tournament. And his on-course activity is about to get much busier. Woods will play in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, Dec. 1-4, and will also be tournament host. He will make another appearance in “The Match,” the made-for-TV golf competition he has helped popularize, this time with partner McIlroy as they take on unbeaten Presidents Cup duo Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas in a 12-hole tilt under the lights at Pelican Golf Club in Belleaire, Florida (TNT, 6 p.m.). Woods also could make his third straight appearance with son Charlie at the father-son PNC Championship at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando, Grande Lakes, Dec. 15-18. McIlroy, 33, is coming off a wildly successful season that returned him to the top of the game. After missing the Valero Texas Open cut in April, he fell to No. 27 in the FedExCup, but was runner-up at the Masters the following week. A long-delayed, successful title defense at the RBC Canadian Open, which hadn’t been played since 2019, further fueled his remarkable season. At the TOUR Championship, he began six behind Scottie Scheffler, and after a terrible start – triple-bogey, bogey – he rallied to beat Scheffler by one for an unprecedented third FedExCup title. McIlroy’s Sunday 66 allowed him to make up a six-shot deficit over the final 18 holes. He ended the year as golf’s No. 1, regaining the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking with his victory in THE CJ CUP in South Carolina, and then, over the weekend, adding the DP World Tour’s season-long points title to his FedExCup title.

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Rory McIlroy is looking to become the first to repeat. Jon Rahm is looking to erase last year. But there are plenty of other names being tossed around. Oh, and there’s a poem.

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When Justin Rose captured the FedExCup in 2018, he became the first champion without a victory in the same Playoffs. That possibility no longer exists with the revised format of the TOUR Championship. The winner of this week’s TOUR Championship is the FedExCup champion. It’s that simple. What requires a moment to understand is why all 30 in the field aren’t starting the tournament at even par like usual. So, scroll past the ranking for an explanation on the format, other wrinkles of the tournament and more. NOTE: This full-field Power Rankings includes starting score for every golfer in the field. POWER RANKINGS: TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP The 13th TOUR Championship of the FedExCup era is unlike every other. The FedExCup Starting Strokes scoring system segregates the field by FedExCup ranking upon arrival. As the top seed, BMW Championship winner Justin Thomas begins the 72-hole competition at East Lake at 10-under. Patrick Cantlay, the 2-seed, opens at 8-under. The cascade effect continues all the way down to those seeded 26-30, who start traditionally at even par. While there likely will be curiosity for who actually scores best, the starting leaderboard will reflect official position. If it helps understand it at first, think of the opening round as if at least one round was already played and you’re viewing the continuation of the same tournament. There is no cut, so all qualifiers are guaranteed 72 holes. The winner of the TOUR Championship will be credited with an official victory, but the earnings will be bonus in nature only. The champ will receive $15 million, the runner-up $5 million, and so on down to $395,000 for 30th place. So, there is no stand-alone purse with official money for the field. The BMW represented the last tournament of the 2018-19 season with official earnings. The FedExCup Starting Strokes scoring system could be responsible for the end of a nine-year drought during which the top seed entering the TOUR Championship has failed to win the FedExCup. Five of the last six FedExCup champions arrived as the 2-seed, including defending champ Justin Rose. No golfer ever has won consecutive FedExCups. Only Tiger Woods (2007, 2009) has captured multiple titles. This year’s field is populated by seven golfers who started the three-event Playoffs outside the top 30 in FedExCup points. The lowest opening seed to qualify is Abraham Ancer. He started THE NORTHERN TRUST seeded 67th and parlayed it with a runner-up finish at Liberty National into debuts in the TOUR Championship and the Presidents Cup. Ancer, who is now seeded 10th, also is one of four PGA TOUR non-winners in the field. Tommy Fleetwood (22nd), rookie Sungjae Im (24th) and Jason Kokrak (30th) are the others. The highest opening seed who failed to advance to East Lake was Shane Lowry. He started 20th and finished 33rd after going a respective T52-T48 in the first two events. He withdrew early from a pair of commitments late in the regular season, but, and of course, his consolation prize is the claret jug. Not too shabby. After two weeks of tackling migrating host tracks, the field lands at the only site used for the TOUR Championship in Playoffs history. All but four – Ancer, Im, Kokrak and Corey Conners – have pegged it at the consistently firm and fair test of East Lake in Atlanta. The stock par 70 tips at 7,346 yards. This is the fourth year since the nines were reversed so that the tournament concludes on a par 5 instead of a par 3. Last year’s field averaged 69.617, which hit the bull’s-eye of the expectation when you consider the setup and the quality of the competition. As the longest of the par 70s in non-majors, smashing drivers is encouraged and capitalizing on the pair of par 5s is all but a prerequisite to contend. While always vulnerable, Nos. 5 and 18 surrendered a scoring average of just 4.43 last year. That’s lowest in the FedExCup era since the inaugural of 2007 and fourth-easiest of 51 courses last season. With FedExCup Starting Strokes now in play, the premium of converting eagles and birdies on the eight times through these holes is more valuable than ever. Overall, like all worthy courses, the test toughens nearer the green. Hitting the averaged-sized greens in regulation 11 or 12 times per round is keeping up with the joneses even in the tiniest field of the season. Putting on what might be the fastest surfaces groomed by the PGA TOUR multiplies the challenge. The MiniVerde bermudagrass greens could roll up to 13 feet on the Stimpmeter. That said, top speeds are unlikely with the persistent threat and likely reality of rain throughout the week. As a result, scoring will favor the aggressive, which only will make it more difficult for those starting at the bottom of the leaderboard to gain ground. Warm and humid air won’t be impacted much by light winds, either. In addition to the richest prize in the history of the PGA TOUR, the FedExCup champion also will receive a three-year membership exemption. By qualifying for the tournament, all 30 in the field are exempt into the Masters, the U.S. Open and The Open Championship, as well as the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and WGC-Mexico Championship next season. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Reshuffle, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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