{"id":436336,"date":"2025-08-14T07:16:41","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T07:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/?p=436336"},"modified":"2025-08-14T07:16:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T07:16:41","slug":"rory-mcilroy-reveals-his-biggest-rookie-spending-regret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/rory-mcilroy-reveals-his-biggest-rookie-spending-regret\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy Reveals His Biggest Rookie Spending Regret"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rory McIlroy<\/a> has revealed his biggest spending regret as a rookie. The 36-year-old has enjoyed a glittering career filled with major titles, Ryder Cup victories, and millions in prize money. But he still regrets his actions in his early days as a professional golfer after making a big purchase with his PGA Tour earnings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

McIlroy Recalls His Worst Purchase Ever<\/h2>\n

The Northern Irishman shared the story of his splurge ahead of the BMW Championship at Caves Valley, recalling the excitement of being a rookie and seeing his bank account fill up for the first time. McIlroy was just 18 years old in 2007 and was new to the United States golf scene. McIlroy earned $20,530 after finishing T-42 at the British Masters on the DP World Tour in 2007. He then banked $286,769 after finishing third at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. In the same year, the then 18-year-old earned another $56,425 at the Madrid Open.<\/p>\n

Keep Reading: Rory McIlroy Reveals Why He Didn’t go to St. Jude Championship\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

McIlroy decided to splurge on himself, but what he bought was not a practical item or even something to help his golf career. Instead, McIlroy walked away with a diamond-encrusted watch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI only had a debit card at the time and checked my balance, he said. \u201c and I was like: ‘Holy (cow)’. I went straight to the jeweller.\u201d At the time, it felt like a reward for his hard work and a symbol that he had \u201cmade it.\u201d However, his feelings about that purchase changed with experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a watch with diamonds around it. It was horrific. I can\u2019t believe \u2026 it was like the worst purchase ever,\u201d McIlroy told reporters<\/a> when asked if he remembered how he spent that first paycheck. The 36-year-old declined to name the brand when he was asked. The Grand Slam winner cited his long-standing endorsement deal with Omega as he didn’t want to appear to be promoting another brand. \u201cIt\u2019s not the make and model that I’m sponsored by now so I\u2019m not going to say it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Diamond Watch Part of McIlroy’s Past<\/h2>\n

McIlroy is currently one of the highest-paid athletes in the world. The five-time major winner is second all-time in career PGA Tour prize money, having earned more than $107 million in winnings to date. The Northern Irishman is on track to surpass legendary golfer Tiger Woods, who has earned around $121 million in prize money so far.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jul 17, 2025; Portrush, IRL; Rory McIlroy on the 11th hole during the first round of The 153rd Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Portrush. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the memory of that diamond watch remains a part of his past, McIlroy\u2019s focus today is on trophies, not jewellery. The 36-year-old will be hoping to win the 30th title of his career this week at the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland. He skipped the first playoff event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, to manage his schedule, but has now returned for the event at Caves Valley.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Mike Frey-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rory McIlroy has revealed his biggest spending regret as a rookie. The 36-year-old has enjoyed a glittering career filled with major titles, Ryder Cup victories, and millions in prize money. But he still regrets his actions in his early days as a professional golfer after making a big purchase with his PGA Tour earnings. McIlroy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5425,"featured_media":436343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,19],"tags":[34,23],"class_list":["post-436336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-pga","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-tiger-woods"],"modified_by":"Ajayi Segun","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436336"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":436344,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436336\/revisions\/436344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}