If he couldn't before, Rory McIlroy can now buy his dad whatever he needs after taking home the British Open's $1.66 million first-place purse Sunday.
His dad may tell him to keep the change.
The Guardian reports that Gerry McIlroy has won £100,000, about $171,000, on a £200 bet he placed 10 years ago that his son would win the British Open before his 26th birthday. McIlroy turned 25 in May.
The paper explains that Gerry McIlroy, then a Belfast barkeep, made the bet on a lark even as he slaved away to give his son opportunities to work toward becoming the world's No.1 golfer:
Gerry, 52, and his wife, Rosie, are credited with a crucial influence on Rory's stunning rise to golfing prominence. Gerry at one stage worked 100 hours per week to fund Rory's participation in amateur events. "From 12pm to 6pm I was a bartender at Holywood Golf Club, then, after going home for tea, I'd return to the sports club from 7pm-midnight to work behind the bar," he said in 2009. "I am a working-class man and that's all I knew – to get the money we needed for Rory to be able to learn and compete at golf," he added.
Two of Gerry's mates will also take home $137,000 on similar bets they'd made.