Rory McIlroy donates entire Irish Open winner’s check to charity

The final three holes of the Irish Open could have provided the biggest swing of this golf summer. Rory McIlroy blitzed the finishing stretch at the K Club, playing the last three in 3-under to turn a one-shot deficit into one of the most meaningful wins of his career.

It’s not a major, but the Irish Open is obviously important to Rory. He’d missed the cut the last two years but that, of course, didn’t sour him on the event. He had said winning it was a childhood dream that would “give him chills,” and this is someone who has done just about everything in the game (except for that green jacket thing).

So it was not totally shocking to see Rory, who does not show much emotion when things are going well, cover his face and wipe his eyes as he walked up the 18th knowing he’d locked up his home event. It was a win on home soil. It was a win that came at a much-needed time after a frustrating first quarter of a year in which he planned to take back his No. 1 world ranking only to watch Jordan Spieth and Jason Day reaffirm their spots above him. There was plenty of relief and lots of celebration ... and also a lot of cash he’d never personally see.

McIlroy confirmed after the win that every dollar he won would be donated to his Rory Foundation, which has become a host and operator of the Irish Open. The foundation is dedicated to helping the lives of sick and disadvantaged kids.

Many of these golf pros give their time and money to charity as well, but it’s not often you see an entire winner’s check instantly donated. McIlroy putting his star power behind this event has also led to a significant jump in the overall purse, which went up from €2.5 million to €4 million this year. So he’s indirectly brought a lot more juice to the event and directly, the winner’s check came out to about €666,000 or $750,000 for his charity.

After the round, McIlroy said the money he knew he’d raised from the win played a role in his getting emotional on the 18th, which, again, is something we just don’t see from Rory.

“It all just sort of hit me. I had a little bit of time on the green when Russell and Danny were finishing out, and I was trying to hold back the tears then. You know, golf-wise this week, it’s obviously very important to me but the work that we’ve put into this tournament and the work that we’ve put into the foundation, and the people that we are going help from this week.”

“I mean, we’ve already raised over half a million Euros going into today for the three chosen charities, and then all the winnings go towards that, as well, so we’ve broken the million Euro mark this week, which is absolutely incredible. I don’t usually get emotional about golf or about wins, but this one, it means just a little bit more, because it’s not just for myself. It’s for a lot of other people. Yeah, it’s a day I’ll not forget for awhile.”

McIlroy doesn’t need the money, of course. He raised eyebrows last year at the PGA Tour’s FedExCup finale when he said that outrageously large $10 million bonus pot was “luckily, an amount of money doesn’t sort of mean much to me anymore” and didn’t really motivate him. Between all his success on the course and the Nike and other endorsement money off it, Rory’s been set for life for a long time. That doesn’t mean this move is not cool or unworthy of praise.

The win was one of the best of the year that featured two bombs on the 16th and 18th holes that had me losing my mind on Sunday morning. It was a vintage Rory performance with an unforgettable close. If he’s not already, he’s going to be the most successful European player ever and Sunday was a big reminder of why so many love watching and rooting for him.