Rory McIlroy has now won the Wells Fargo Championship four times. But never has it been worth more — at least, financially — than on this occasion.

This year’s edition was a signature event on the Tour schedule, with a $20 million purse and $3.6 million to the winner. That haul takes McIlroy’s Wells Fargo career total to $9,463,076.

With $86.6 million in official career Tour earnings, McIlroy is now $10 million from surpassing Phil Mickelson for second on the all-time list. Tiger Woods is first with $121 million.

Here’s a look at the purse payout in the no-cut event in Charlotte, North Carolina:

World number two Rory McIlroy says he needs that ‘little bit of something’ once he gets into contention to end his major drought. 

McIlroy, who turned 35 years old last week, has three more chances this year to end his wait.

At this point, you’ll likely know it’s been 10 years since McIlroy was victorious in one of the big four.

His last major win came when he pipped Phil Mickelson by one to the PGA Championship at Valhalla.

McIlroy prevailed by finishing his round in almost complete darkness and, at the time it represented back-to-back wins in majors after triumphing at the 2014 Open at Royal Liverpool.

McIlroy told the Belfast Telegraph that he’s leaning heavily on data to reassure him that he’s a better player now compared to that bushy-haired 25-year-old.

“There was more volatility in my game back then,” he said.

He added: “I don’t want to get too much into the data stuff, but if you look at my numbers over the last four years and compare them to earlier in my career, yeah, I’m a better player.

“The results in the biggest events haven’t married up with that, but I’m still grinding away.

“I’m a good enough player to just play my way into contention but it’s when I get into contention, say on that back nine on Sunday at Valhalla, it’s just needing that little bit of something.

“At Valhalla it was Phil and Rickie [Fowler] fist-pumping on the way to the 12th tee. Whatever it is, just tell yourself a story to get that fire going.

“Not that you should need a fire playing for a major championship. It’s the biggest thing that we do. I know that I’m a better player now than I was back then.

“And the narrative has been, ‘Rory hasn’t won a major in 10 years, so what’s going on or what’s wrong?’

“But I’ve done everything else there is to do in the game in those last 10 years. It’s just a matter of getting over the line in one of those big four.”

McIlroy will be returning to Valhalla next week.

He told the publication his abiding memory from back then was seeing Fowler and Mickelson fist-pumping during the final round that sparked a reaction.

“That almost felt like two-on-one in a way,” he said. “And I was like, ‘I’m going to get these guys.'”

Before McIlroy heads to Louisville, he will be the headline act at the Wells Fargo Championship.

He is attempting to win at Quail Hollow for the fourth time.

Should he be successful, he would take his haul of PGA Tour titles to 26.

Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy have found themselves on opposite sides of the PGA Tour’s ugly feud with LIV Golf, and there has certainly been no love lost between the pair in that time

Phil Mickelson once claimed that not a single LIV Golf team would want PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy, as the saga between the two circuits continues.

The PGA Tour and LIV have been locked in battle ever since the breakaway league’s inception in June 2022. Arguably the two most vocal stars on both sides have been LIV poster boy Mickelson, and PGA Tour loyalist McIlroy.

Four-time major champion McIlroy has made no secret of his ill-feeling towards the Saudi-backed series, and rival Mickelson, having infamously shouted down the camera ‘f*** you Phil!’ whilst appearing in Netflix’s PGA Tour docu-series ‘Full Swing’.

Earlier in the year, the Northern Irishman opened up some struggles he had been enduring with his golf swing, backing calls for an off-season across the PGA and DP World Tours for players to rest and recover. “We have all been advocating for an off-season and there’s certain reasons why guys want – it’s very hard to try to play your best golf when you’re really thinking about your golf swing,” he claimed at the Memorial Tournament in June.

“So that off-season time would be nice to work on your mechanics and your fundamentals so that you’ve got those sort of bedded in so that you can sort of roll going into the bulk of the season.” One circuit that does offer plenty of time off to its players is LIV.

The breakaway league hosts just 14 events across the year, alongside golf’s four major championships between April and July. On the back of McIlroy’s off-season comments in June, rival Mickelson admitted LIV could well be the perfect place for the former Open champion.

However, the HyFlyers skipper claimed there would not be a single team on the roster that would take him on. Taking to X in June, Mickelson brutally wrote: “As worn out as McIlroy was after the Masters and his need for an off season, LIV would be perfect for him.

“Problem is I don’t think there’s a team that wants him on it because they’d have to deal with all his bs.” Meanwhile, McIlroy will have been far from concerned about Mickelson’s comments, having later stated at the Genesis Scottish Open in July: “If LIV Golf was the last place to play golf on earth, I would retire.”

It appeared if he was to change his mind on the breakaway league, there would be a much simpler path onto the Saudi-backed circuit for McIlroy after PGA Tour announced plans to work with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), and ‘merge’ with their LIV rivals.

The Northern Irishman however reinstated his ‘hate’ for the tour led by Greg Norman, after news of the proposed ‘framework agreement’ was released ahead of the RBC Canadian Open in June. “I still hate LIV,” McIlroy claimed.

“I hope it goes away. And I would fully expect that it does. And I think that’s where the distinction here is. This is the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF. Very different from LIV.”

Phil Mickelson has denied claims in a new book that he asked to put a bet on Team USA to win the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ Ryder Cup ahead of their final-day defeat; Rory McIlroy responded to the accusations about Mickelson after his opening round at the FedEx St Jude Championship

Rory McIlroy took a dig at Phil Mickelson after the six-time major champion was forced to deny claims he tried to bet on a Ryder Cup while playing.

In an excerpt from the forthcoming book: “Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk,” by Billy Walters, Walters recounted details of the bets he and Mickelson formerly made together.

The book says that Mickelson was so confident the United States would regain the Ryder Cup in 2012 that he asked Walters to bet $400,000 for him on that result.

Walters declined and writes he had “no idea” if Mickelson made such a bet, one which would have lost as Europe recovered from 10-6 down to win by a point in one of the most memorable days in the event’s history.

McIlroy was asked about the Mickelson claims after his opening round at the FedEx St Jude Championship, where he took a light-hearted swipe about the American’s Ryder Cup future.

“At least he can bet on the Ryder Cup this year because he won’t be a part of it,” McIlroy said.

Mickelson: I never bet on the Ryder Cup

Mickelson initially declined to comment after his pro-am round ahead of the LIV Golf event in New Jersey, but later released a statement on social media.

“I never bet on the Ryder Cup,” Mickelson said. “While it is well known that I always enjoy a friendly wager on the course, I would never undermine the integrity of the game. I have also been very open about my gambling addiction.

“I have previously conveyed my remorse, took responsibility, have gotten help, have been fully committed to therapy that has positively impacted me, and I feel good about where I am now.”

Days before the first LIV event last year, Mickelson told Sports Illustrated that he was embarrassed by his “reckless” gambling but insisted his decision to join the Saudi-funded breakaway had nothing to do with financial difficulty.

“My family and I are and have been financially secure for some time,” the six-time major winner said. “My gambling got to a point of being reckless and embarrassing. I had to address it. And I’ve been addressing it for a number of years. And for hundreds of hours of therapy.

The PGA Tour has been busy lately considering many paths forward for itself and its players. With the December deadline of the proposed merger coming closer, all eyes and ears are tuned to the tour. And the tour did drop a major update recently. This comes at a time when an important member of the PGA Tour’s policy board, Rory McIlroy, has stepped down.

The update talks about the tour’s decision involving how the tour will handle equity in the future. Now, Lefty Phil Mickelson, who has had a history with the tour regarding this merger and related aspects, had something to say in response. And his reply is as direct as it gets.

Lefty comments on Monahan’s change of mind

The PGA Tour’s recent announcement revealed that it plans to offer equity stake to members in the new entity (for-profit) that will be created. Reportedly, after a board meeting attended by directors including Tiger Woods, a memo to this effect was distributed to the players.

Phil Mickelson has responded to a tweet from NUCLR Golf disclosing this announcement. He expressed how the change in philosophy in the past couple of years amazes him. He quoted Jay Monahan and Ed Herlihy on this matter from what they said in October 2021, “If it’s not 100% owned and controlled by the PGA Tour it will be viewed as hostile.”

Lefty added his gratitude to the LIV league and associated entities in the tweet. “Thank you LIV, PIF, His Excellency and all the players willing to stand up to Jay’s threats and disparagement to force positive change.

Phil Mickelson often contributes to discussions online about the PGA Tour’s change in stance regarding policies. He quotes himself and others from the past, to remind the fans of what transpired back when he tried to make things work from within the tour. We mean the time before he left PGAT for LIV golf. Meanwhile, what is the deal with Rory McIlroy and his resignation from the policy board? Let’s look into that.

Rory McIlroy is done with his duty

As of Tuesday, Rory McIlroy has stepped down from his position as a player director on the policy board of the PGA Tour. He has cited that to focus on his professional and personal commitments, he needs the time off.

At the press conference ahead of the DP World Tour Championship, the Irishman answered a question about the position he had held. He confessed that he did not particularly enjoy it. However, he spoke optimistically about the future and sounded positive.

With Jon Rahm recently exiting the TGL without any warning, and now McIlroy resigning his responsibilities, it looks like the PGA Tour is going through some major changes. Perhaps we will know more as the year gets closer to its end.