McIlroy will donate his winnings to charity if he wins Irish Open
By Jason Rowan
Rory McIlroy announced on Wednesday that should he win the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open this week at Royal County Down GC in Northern Ireland, he will donate all his winnings to charity.
While it’s worth noting that the charity McIlroy will donate the winnings (£416,000, or $638,000 US) will be his own, the Rory Foundation, it doesn’t take away from the generosity of the gesture.
The Rory Foundation, which benefits various children’s charities, also serves as host and sponsor of the Irish Open, so everything pretty much fell into place.
McIlroy mentioned that the tournament has been a difficult one for him to attend due to his rigorous schedule, and said perhaps doing something like this might get his competitive juices flowing.
“The Irish Open for me for the last few years was becoming a bit of a… I don’t want to say a pain, but it didn’t quite fit in the schedule or I just wasn’t enjoying it as much as I could,” McIlroy said at a pre-tourney presser, via the Belfast Telegraph.
“And then the European Tour approached us about getting involved and we thought it was a perfect way to really kickstart the foundation and really start to help other people because of who I am and what I do.
“So honestly, what I want to get out of it this year is just to raise a lot of money for the foundation for the cancer fund, and ultimately if I play well, and if I do well in the tournament, then all the money that I earn is going to go towards that as well.
“So I’m not really playing for myself this week. I’m playing for a lot of other people and it gives me an incentive to go out there and enjoy it and try to play well.”
McIlroy has missed the cut at the last two Irish Opens, so perhaps competing to benefit his charitable foundation will serve as the proper motivation to help him avoid that outcome this year.
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