Joint-second place in The Open takes McIlroy past Lee Westwood
Tuesday 24 July 2018 12:04, UK
Rory McIlroy may have missed out on his fifth major victory in The 147th Open on Sunday, but his performance at Carnoustie did help him achieve one notable career landmark.
The 29-year-old Northern Irishman finished in a four-way tie for second place behind Francesco Molinari, but the €597,050 prize money he picked up took him to the top of the all-time career money list on the European Tour.
McIlroy has now earned a total of €35,110,780 on the European Tour, moving ahead of Lee Westwood, who has amassed €34,777,910.
Westwood could only finish in a tie for 61st at The Open, which secured him a prize of €21,772.
McIlroy, who is now seventh in the world rankings, has won 13 times on the European Tour and triumphed in the Race to Dubai in 2012, 2014 and 2015.
Englishman Westwood, 45, has won 23 times on the European Tour during his career and has 137 top-10 finishes to his name - McIlroy has 82. He first topped the career money list in 2011 when he reached the €25m mark to overtake Ernie Els.
McIlroy first joined the European Tour as a professional in 2007 when he earned €277,255 from eight starts, and he increased his prize money to €696,335 the following year when he featured in 28 events.
He claimed his first professional victory when he won the Dubai Desert Classic in 2009 which helped lift his prize money to €3,610,020.
McIlroy failed to win in Europe in 2010, although he did triumph in the Quail Hollow Championship on the PGA Tour, but he claimed his first major victory the following year when he won the US Open at Congressional which took him past the €4m mark on the European Tour as he amassed €4,002,168.
Victories in the PGA Championship and DP World Tour Championship in 2012 elevated his earnings to €5,519,118, but a loss of form meant he drew a blank in 2013 as he made just €862,177.
He quickly put 2013 behind him, though, as he reached new heights in 2014 with two major successes - in The Open at Royal Liverpool and PGA Championship at Valhalla - as well as valuable wins in the BMW PGA Championship and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
That gave McIlroy his best year to date with a massive €5,883,304 in prize money on the European Tour as he won the Race to Dubai for a second time, and victories in the Omega Desert Classic, WGC-Cadillac Match Play and DP World Tour Championship saw him retain that title in 2015 with €4,540,007 earned.
McIlroy has only won the 2016 Irish Open on the European Tour since then, but has still managed to pick up €2,971,984 and €1,832,086 in the last two years and he has already trousered €2,494,458 this season following his efforts at Carnoustie.
