Rory McIlroy makes no bones about 'worst purchase ever' from colossal £260m net worth

Rory McIlroy trails only Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour's all-time earnings list, but the golf ace isn't particularly proud of how he has used all those funds. The Northern Irishman boasts an estimated net worth of £260million and has banked £84m on the course throughout his career to date.

McIlroy, 36, became the sixth player to achieve the career Grand Slam after clinching the Masters earlier this year. However, his maiden PGA Tour triumph came just two days shy of his 21st birthday at the 2010 Quail Hollow Championship. He pocketed around £650,000 from that breakthrough victory and had only joined the PGA Tour that same year. McIlroy will compete in the BMW Championship this week, but prior to the tournament, he confessed to purchasing a "horrific" timepiece upon receiving his first big cheque. When questioned about his initial major acquisition after joining the PGA Tour, McIlroy recalled buying a watch.

"With diamonds around it. It was horrific," he told reporters this week, per the Irish Star. "I can't believe it was like the worst purchase ever. It was so bad."

McIlroy is still a watch aficionado and maintains an extensive collection, yet he laments the diamond timepiece he acquired 15 years ago. When pressed if he remembered the make and model of the watch, he said: "I do. It's not the make and model that I'm sponsored by now, so I'm not going to say it."

Omega has sponsored McIlroy since 2013, with special edition timepieces from the Swiss manufacturer featuring in his personal collection. The Northern Irishman serves as an ambassador for the brand, though he has also been spotted sporting Audemars Piguet watches over the years.

While McIlroy expressed regret over buying the mystery timepiece, he also utilised his media session at Caves Valley Golf Club to address the Ryder Cup. The tournament will take place at Bethpage Black Course in New York from September 23-28, with McIlroy already beginning his psychological warfare.

The four-time major winner revealed he's been approached to serve as a playing captain for Team Europe but has rejected the suggestion each time it's been raised. McIlroy subsequently claimed it wasn't feasible due to the increased responsibilities and media duties.

Keegan Bradley will lead Team USA and could become the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963. With fewer than six weeks remaining until the 2025 Ryder Cup, McIlroy suggested Bradley's dual role would prove extremely challenging if he accepted the same task.

"I don't think you can do it," McIlroy said. "I just think the commitments that a captain has the week of -- you think about the extra media that a captain has to do, you think about the extra meetings that the captains have to do with the vice captains, with the PGA of America.

"In Keegan's case, preparing your speech for the opening ceremony -- just there's a lot of things that people don't see that the captain does the week of the Ryder Cup, especially now that the Ryder Cup has become so big.

"If you'd have said it 20 years ago, I'd say, yeah, it was probably possible to do, but how big of a spectacle and everything that's on the line in a Ryder Cup now, I just think it would be a very difficult position to be in. So I just think for those reasons.

"Then the captain isn't going to be on the course all day, so really the captain's only going to be able to play one session on Friday, one session on Saturday. Would you rather not have a player that has the flexibility to go twice if he's playing well? There's a lot of different things that go into it, and that's why I think -- look, it's just my opinion, but I think it would just be very difficult to do."