Rory McIlroy is not short on money. Golf Digest estimates that he made nearly $50 million last year. There is plenty to go around. But that doesn't erase the generosity he showed to his caddie J.P. Fitzgerald after winning the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup last month.
McIlroy received $1.5 million for winning the Tour Championship and $10 million for winning the FedEx Cup ($1 million of which was deferred into a retirement account). His take-home number was $10.5 million.
Caddies almost always receive 10 percent of a golfer's winnings for any given tournament a golfer wins. The FedEx Cup bonus money (the extra $10 million) is different. Some golfers keep the 10 percent figure in place. Billy Horschel did it a few years ago. Not all do, though.
McIlroy chose to do so for longtime bag man Fitzgerald. The quiet, Ray-Ban-wearing looper for the most talented golfer alive is now (officially) a millionaire, although based on McIlroy's previous earnings, he probably hit that plateau a while back.
"I knew [the FedEx Cup money] was there when J.P., my caddie, gave me a text and said, 'Thanks,'" McIlroy explained. "I think his words were, 'A tsunami just hit my bank account, so thank you very much.' J.P. got a nice percentage of that, so I knew at that point it was already there."
Pretty cool stuff from the Ulsterman.
"So the total was $1.05 million," McIlroy added to ESPN. "I think he was quite happy. He deserved it. He's a big part of what we do. He was with me when I was No. 210 in the world and when I was No. 1."
The $1.05 million alone would have ranked Fitzgerald No. 102 in money earned on the PGA Tour last season, and that not counting all the other checks he received throughout the year.
