Tiger Woods was the winner of the PGA Tour’s popularity contest, also known as the Player Impact Program (PIP), for 2024, but Scottie Scheffler was also a huge beneficiary – thanks in part to his high-profile arrest in May.

The PIP has been used by the tour since 2021 to reward the most impactful players in media coverage across a range of metrics, including Google searches, TV time and – for only the first two seasons of PIP’s existence – social media engagements. The scheme has been scrapped after the conclusion of the end of the 2024 season, but not before doling out big bonuses.

Scottie Scheffler was arrested at the PGA Championship (Image: X)

Fifteen-time major champion Woods, despite playing only five times in 2024, finished top of the rankings and received a $10 million payout. World No. 1 Scheffler’s golden year was capped by a second-place finish, adding $8 million to the tens of millions he banked over the course of a remarkable season.

Scheffler beat the 2023 PIP winner Rory McIlroy to second place, with third-place McIlroy receiving $4.5 million for his place in the ranking – the same bonus paid to Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth and Collin Morikawa. Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood and Wyndham Clark, who finished from seventh to 10th in the ranking, took home $3.5 million each.

The fact Scheffler – who came fifth in the 2023 PIP list – ranked above McIlroy illustrates how impressive his 2024 campaign was. The 28-year-old won seven times on the PGA Tour, including a second victory at The Masters. He also added an Olympic gold medal to his collection and a second successive victory at the Hero World Challenge to conclude the year in December.

McIlroy has taken on the mantle as golf’s biggest needle-mover in Woods’ many absences due to injury in recent years, but he trailed in Scheffler’s wake on and off the course in 2024.

Scheffler was booked at Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections when he was arrested and charged. ( Image: PA)

Scheffler’s incredible results justify his position as one of the sport’s biggest stars, but he does not quite have the same mainstream appeal as McIlroy, whose private life has often been in the spotlight over the course of his 17-year professional career.

Texas native Scheffler, however, found himself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in what was, undoubtedly, one of the weirdest stories of 2024. Scheffler was arrested on the second morning of the PGA Championship at Valhalla in Kentucky back in May.

A pedestrian was tragically 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed in a collision with a vehicle outside the course before sunrise, forcing law enforcement to implement traffic restrictions. Upon his arrival at the course, Scheffler drove around a line of cars waiting to get in and made his way to the entrance, where he was halted by police officers.

Officer Bryan Gillis appeared unaware that he was dealing with the world No. 1, who was well-placed at four-under-par overnight. Officer Gillis claimed that Scheffler did not comply with his command to stop the vehicle, suffering minor injuries as he fell to the ground after trying to grab ahold of the car.

Scheffler was placed in the back of a cop car and taken downtown, where he was booked – and his mugshot almost instantly went viral on social media. It emerged he had been hit with charges of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.

Scheffler insisted the incident was the result of an innocent misunderstanding, and a Jefferson County judge agreed. The charges were dropped two weeks after the saga, with Scheffler issuing a classy statement saying he held “no ill will toward Officer Gillis” as well as paying tribute to John Mills, the man 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed in the collision before the two-time major champion’s arrival at the course.

For Scheffler, who would finish in a share of eighth place in the tournament, it was certainly an episode he would prefer to forget – although the countless T-shirts at events bearing his mugshot will make that impossible. But there can be no doubt that it saw his celebrity status grow, contributing to his rise to second place in the PIP rankings.