“It earned me an extra 500k”

Rory McIlroy did not win the 2026 Genesis Invitational on Sunday. But he lit up Riviera back nine late in the final round, nearly overturning winner Jacob Bridgeman’s massive 54-hole lead.

of five-time major winnerwho finished T2, seemed pleased with his performance on Sunday night, calling it, “overall a really positive week”.

At least as far as his bank account was concerned, he wasn’t kidding. McIlroy earned a big payday for his second at the Riviera, thanks to the Genesis’ status as a PGA Tour signature event.

However, his payout would have been much smaller had he not birdied his final hole of the tournament. That fact wasn’t lost on McIlroy after his round, and he used it to comic effect in an answer to a reporter’s question about his “brutal” impending loss at Genesis.

Rory McIlroy’s birdie bomb on 18 gives him a massive payout at Genesis

McIlroy’s final round got off to a slow start. Trailing Bridgeman by six shots to start the day, he traded a birdie at the start for a bogey on 6 to finish the front nine in even par.

Once he made the turn, though, McIlroy kicked it into another gear. He holed out for a birdie at 11, then holed an incredible bunker shot for another birdie at 12.

When Bridgeman later bogeyed 16, just three shots separated him and McIlroy on the leaderboard.

Rory turned 17 to take another shot. At 18, he stared down a 30-footer and, unlike many of his other chances on Sunday, drained it for an impossible birdie at the end.

It wasn’t enough to stop Bridgeman, who broke away to win by onebut it was enough to lift McIlroy up a position on the leaderboard. And as a result there were huge financial consequences.

During his post-round interview, a reporter asked McIlroy if it was “cruel” to see his long birdie putt drop on 18, given that so many previous putts had missed.

That’s when McIlroy offered his sharp response, using his growing earnings as a punchline.

“No, not really,” McIlroy began. “It’s probably made me an extra €400, €500, so that’s good.”

However, McIlroy’s quick math resulted in a huge understatement. In reality, his long bird at age 18 increased his salary much more than he thought.

Had Rory doubled for 18, he would have finished T3 with Adam Scott. That two-way tie for third would have earned McIlroy $1.2 million. It’s a staggering figure, no doubt. For reference, that’s a bigger payday than Rory earned winning Irish Open 2025 in September ($1.02 million), his most recent win.

But McIlroy sank his birdie putt on Riviera’s 18th hole. And as a result, he improved from a T3- to a T2-finish with Kurt Kitayama. This massively improved his pay from $1.2 million to $1.8 million.

In short order, McIlroy’s 30-footer on 18 won it $600,000 moreincreasing his income by 50 percent.

And based on his comments to shut down his pressure, McIlroy will continue to focus on the positives as the biggest tournaments of the year approach.

“I feel like my game is in really good shape. I’m looking forward to playing the Bermuda greens over the next couple of weeks,” McIlroy said in closing on Sunday. “But it feels good, it feels a lot better than in Dubai, which is a big step in the right direction. You just have to keep working.”