PGA Tour implementing $40M bonus pool to compensate most popular players

Get ready for the rich golfers to get even richer.

The PGA Tour is implementing a $40 million bonus program that will reward the most popular players on tour.

According to Golfweek, the 10 most popular players on tour will receive a certain portion of the $40 million pool each year. The most popular player will receive $8 million, and the others lower on the list will receive less.

How will popularity be judged? Based on some metrics, such as Google search traffic, social media mentions a player generates and each player's Q Rating. Golfweek has full details on the metrics being used to rank the golfers. All the metrics are along the lines of recognizability to the public.

The most popular players are often already the best players, which means they are rich through the prize money they receive on tour. Additionally, these players’ popularity is already rewarded through sponsorship and endorsement deals.

So why would the PGA Tour create a system that further enriches these players and creates a bigger financial gap between them and the rest of the players on tour?

Golfweek says that the PGA Tour was working in response to a threat from Saudi Arabia’s Premier Golf League. The Saudi league was trying to lure top players with the promise of massive guaranteed money. This is a way for the PGA Tour to financially compensate its top players even more. The program is also incentivizing players to increase their brand presence, which further helps the sport.