Apart from the reported €21.8m settlement which he had to pay his former management company, the last year has been good to Rory McIlroy. He won two majors, the Ryder Cup and regained number one spot in the world rankings.
The year has been so good in fact that he now ranks first on another list - the Sunday Times Rich List of Irish sports people.
It has McIlroy's wealth at €52m, just ahead of fellow golfer Padraig Harrington. The two were worth €34m and €43m respectively on last year's list. Roy Keane comes in third, likely helped by the release of his second autobiography back in October.
The only non golfer or footballer in the top ten is AP McCoy. The jockey retired from horse racing on Saturday.
1 Rory McIlroy, Golf, €52m
2 Padraig Harrington, Golf, €51m
3 Roy Keane, Football, €40m
4 Graeme McDowell, Golf, €34m
5 Robbie Keane, Football, €27m
6 Damien Duff, Football, €26m
7 Darren Clarke, Golf, €25m
8 AP McCoy, Horse racing, €18m
9 Martin O'Neill, Football, €18m
10 John O'Shea, Football, €16m
Picture credit: Sportsfile
