Rory ready to race ahead by teeing up sound investments with prize money

IT'S safe to say the day job has been a nice little earner for Rory Mcllroy.

- PAUL O'HEHIR

As he stood over that three-footer at Augusta National on April 13, the financial implications of sinking the putt were the last thing on his mind.

Not after the exhilarating-but-draining white-knuckle ride he had just embarked on.

And not as he stood there on the brink of history and with the weight of the world about to be lifted from his shoulders in such a raw outpouring of emotion.

But of course there was reward for his endeavours - Mcllroy pocketed a cool $4.2m (€3.7m, £3.2m) for his efforts, from a record Augusta purse of $21m (€18.6m, £15m).

That winner's pot is an increase on the $3.6m (€3.2m, €2.7m) that world No 1 Scottie Scheffler - the only player ranked higher than Mcllroy - pocketed after his Masters win a year ago.

But Mcllroy's return for winning the Masters still doesn't top the $4.5m (€4m, £3.4m) cheque he secured for his play-off win in the prestigious Players Championship in March.

He has previously won four majors - the 2011 US Open, 2012 US PGA Championship, the 2014 Open and the 2014 US PGA - for which he earned a total of $6.4m (€5.7m, £4.9m).

All of which is a drop in the ocean to the $18m (€16m, £13.7m) he landed in 2022 after rallying from six shots down to win the FedEx Cup for the third time.

Before his Masters heroics, Mcllroy's estimated net worth was reported to be $250m (€221m, £189m), according to the 2023 Sunday Times Rich List.