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Rory McIlroy Closes in on Tiger Woods’ Historic PGA Tour Record After TPC Win

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Michael Gallagher | Last updated Mar 17, 2025 6:45 PM ET

Rory McIlroy picked an opportune time to fire off his best shot of The Players Championship.

Facing J.J. Spaun in a three-hole playoff on Monday at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., to determine the winner of the 2025 TPC, McIlroy teed off first and connected on a 340-yard-plus drive on the 16th hole that put him in the driver’s seat and set the tone for what would be an easy win.

Though McIlroy bogeyed on No. 17, he took a three-shot lead into the final hole after Spaun triple-bogeyed on No. 17, all but handing the victory to the 35-year-old Irishman — his 28th career PGA Tour title.

“By no means did I have my best stuff this week,” McIlroy said after the win. “But I was still able to win one of the biggest tournaments in the world. That's a huge thing.”

McIlroy also collected $4.5 million for his latest victory while Spaun pocketed $2.5 million for his second-place effort. And while tying Paul Runyan and Leo Diegel for 20th all-time in PGA Tour wins was likely a moment to celebrate for McIlroy, it doesn’t compare to another notable milestone he achieved in the process.

With his TPC prize money, McIlroy passed Phil Mickelson ($96,685,635) for second place on the PGA Tour’s career earnings list ($99,709,062). He’s now one or two more wins away from becoming just the second player ever to join the PGA’s $100 million club.

The only other member is Tiger Woods, who is also the PGA Tour’s all-time leader in career earnings with $120,999,166. McIlroy is now just $21,290,104 from catching Woods, which he could conceivably do in the next few years.

McIlroy’s two most profitable years as a pro were in 2023 ($13,921,008) and 2024 ($10,893,790), and he’s on track to have a career year in earnings in 2025 after banking $8,719,714 through four starts with two wins (McIlroy has averaged 16 starts per year since his debut season in 2009.)

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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