Rory McIlroy says $10 million bonus doesn't get him excited
ATLANTA – If Rory McIlroy is in contention come Sunday in the final round of The Tour Championship by Coca-Cola, with the $10 million bonus within his grasp, he won’t be thinking about the cash.
“Luckily, that amount of money doesn't sort of mean much to me anymore,” McIlroy said Wednesday at East Lake Golf Club. “It will go in the bank and if I want to buy something nice, I will. I mean, like, it's nice to think that you could win $10 million this week, but that's not what excites me.
“It excites me to play well and to try and win.”
The answer – that $10 million doesn’t excite him – surprised those in the media center who, well, don’t have $100,000, let alone $1 million, let alone $10 million. McIlroy once didn’t have that kind of money, either, and he remembers those days very well.
“I remember I wanted this watch,” McIlroy said as he remember back to 2007.
That year, he finished third in the Dunhill Links Championship on the European Tour and won 211,322 pounds.
“And I went to get money out of the ATM the week after and the check had obviously been put in (to his account) and I wanted to check my balance and it was like, whatever it was, 220,000 pounds, and I was like, I went straight to the store and bought this watch.
“ It's something I'll remember for the rest of my life. But, obviously, at that stage I had just been a pro three or four weeks, I had never seen that amount of money before and to think that that was there and that, again, at that point I didn't have a clue about taxes or a clue about anything like that. I just saw this amount of money and I was like, yes, I'm going to get this watch.
“ We're playing for over a million dollars every week. We're in such a fortunate position and I think everyone on Tour realizes that. The majority of the guys that are out here know that their kids will be OK, their kids can go to college, their kids will probably be OK as well. So to be able to set up the next couple of generations of your family for a nice life, it's very fortunate and very privileged that we're able to do that.”
McIlroy has earned more than $28 million in PGA Tour prize money since 2007.