Golfer Rory McIlory Reveals the First Thing he Bought From First Check Earned on Tour

Do you remember your first big purchase once you landed your first big job? Was it a TV, an iPhone, that special DVD series you always wanted from the 2010s? Or maybe you used the extra money in the first biweekly check and spent it on lunch for a friend at a nice restaurant?

At the pro golf level, that answer can vary from player to player, and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy was asked in front of a group of reporters at his BMW Championship press conference on Wednesday at Caves Valley near Baltimore. The 36-year-old answered without hesitation.

“Yes, [it was] a watch,” McIlroy said, confidently. His answer came within seconds as he couldn’t hide his regret now looking back on what he thought was cool then.

“A watch?” The inquiring reporter asked.

“With diamonds around it," McIlroy said. "It was horrific. I can't believe, it was like the worst purchase ever. It was so bad.”

It’s amazing how hindsight in our lives, especially more than a decade later, can be so vitally crystal clear.

Asked if McIlroy could recall the make and model of the watch and, like the purchase itself, the image came straight to his mind, he just chose to not reveal it.

“I do. It's not the make and model that I'm sponsored by now, so I'm not going to say it,” McIlroy smiled.

Jack Nicklaus was once asked in a press conference at the Memorial Tournament in 2016 how much he made in his first PGA Tour paycheck. And like McIlroy, his recall was spot on as he came up with $33.33 for a check in the 1962 Los Angeles Open in a three-way tie for 50th place.

These golfers often remember every shot they hit during their competitive rounds, so I guess it shouldn’t surprise us when they recall specific first purchases and paychecks.

Superpowers come in all shapes and forms.