With Rory McIlroy on the verge of the British Open championship, his father Gerry also stands to win a good sum of money on a bet he made 10 years ago.
According to BBC's Andrew Cotter and as reported by ESPN, the elder McIlroy and his three friends made a legal bet of 400 British pounds a decade ago that the then-15-year old would win the said championship by the time he reaches 26 years old.
As of this writing, McIlroy is six shots ahead of Rickie Fowler with the final round underway at Royal Liverpool.
The Northern Irishman will be 25 years, two months and 16 days on Sunday, meaning the elder McIlroy and his friends would win 200,000 pounds or roughly $341,730. Although the bet was that Rory would win by the time he was 25, it was confirmed by the BBC that the wager would still count because he's not yet 26.
McIlroy was just 22 when he first won his first major, the U.S. Open. The following year, he won with another major, this time the PGA Championship. He didn't win any major tournament last year but is likely to nab the third leg of the ground slam with a commanding lead at Royal Liverpool.
Still, McIlroy says he is not taking anything for granted. Prior to Sunday's final round, he told the Associated Press: ''A lot can happen. And I've been on the right side of it and I've been on the wrong side of it. You can't let yourself think forward. You've just got to completely stay in the moment, and that's what I'm going to try to do for all 18 holes tomorrow.''
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