FedEx Cup 2019: Breaking Down Rory McIlroy’s $15 Million Win

The 30-year-old took home the largest purse in golf history
16:43, 26 Aug 2019

On Sunday, Rory McIlroy won the Tour Championship for the second time to secure the FedEx Cup and take home a hefty $15million (£12.2m) jackpot. 

The Northern-Irishman finished on 18 under par, four shots clear of second-placed Xander Schauffele and five ahead of third-round leader and world number one Brooks Koepka in Atlanta.

The $15 million the 30-year-old took home is the largest purse in golf history, with a total of $45 million on the line for the 30 golfers at East Lake Golf Club in Georgia.

McIlroy had questioned the prize on offer for the winner earlier in the week, suggesting the new rules introduced this year were unfair.

Only the top 30 on the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup points list qualified to play in Atlanta, with players' starting scores then adjusted by their position.

For example, it meant Justin Thomas, who won the BMW Championship last Sunday, began the tournament at 10 under par, whilst McIlroy, fifth in the standings, started at five under.

"You can shoot the best score of the week and not win the golf tournament," McIlroy said.

"If that happens to someone it's going to be hard for them to wrap their head around."

He’ll have no doubt changed his tune by now, having gotten his hands on such a handsome sum and the jackpot now means he joins an elite group of just four professional golfers to have earned more than $80m on the course with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh. 

Including players eliminated in the first week of the playoffs, a stunning $70 million was splashed out during the FedEx Cup - even the last place at the Tour Championship earned a cool $395,000.

To put into further context, on Twitter, Justin Ray of the 15th Club pointed out that the entirety of the purses during the PGA Tour in 1996 was only $65.9m.

McIlroy’s weekend win now means he’s earned $17,704 per hole this PGA Tour season and even his caddie, Harry Diamond, has benefited financially, reportedly taking home $2.15m across the 2018/19 season - only $140,000 less than Jordan Speith!

McIlroy was clearly the big winner in Georgia but that’s not to say any of the runners-up weren’t compensated fairly. It may have been $10m less than the winner but second-placed Xander Schauffele took home a cool $5m, whilst Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka, tied for third, claimed $3.5m.

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