Rory McIlroy finished joint second, one shot shy of winner Jacob Bridgeman, at this year's Genesis Invitational.
After a week where it seemed money could not buy the Northern Irishman a putt, Riviera eventually paid out in substantial fashion on the 72nd hole of the week.
The fateful roll from 29 feet snaked down the hill, held for a millisecond on the lip, before dropping…alongside an extra $600,000 into the Holywood hero’s bank account.
If the putt, like much of his others over the week, had shied away from going home, McIlroy would have been sharing third place and $1.2m with Adam Scott, instead of the $1.8m share he earned by tying second with Kurt Kitayama.
When asked about the cruelty of seeing one drop on the 18th compared to the multitude that passed by throughout the week, McIlroy responded in very self-aware fashion (albeit a couple hundred thousand dollars short).
“No, not really. It probably earned me an extra 400, 500 grand so it's fine," he said.
Putt for an extra $600K?!A birdie on No. 18 moved Rory McIlroy to T2 and put some extra cash in his pocket. Not a bad way to finish @thegenesisinv 💸 pic.twitter.com/oyYirgMQvfFebruary 22, 2026
Despite a back-nine charge in the final round, which consisted of five birdies, including a brilliant holed-bunker shot on the 12th, the Northern Irishman deemed it too little too late.
“I’ll rue basically all 18 holes yesterday and then the front nine today, like 27 holes where I failed to capitalize on the chances I give myself," he said.
“I started to trust my reads a bit on the back nine and I went more with my first instinct, I putted a little better.”
Overall, McIlroy labeled it a positive showing, and a certain improvement from his T14 finish at Pebble Beach the week prior.
A two-under 69 on Saturday allowed eventual winner Jacob Bridgeman to enter Sunday’s final round with a six-shot lead. Bridgeman closed out Sunday with a somewhat shaky 72, managing to hold off McIlroy, Kitayama, and Scott chasing behind to win his first PGA Tour event.
McIlroy is no stranger to jostling for tournament leads and acknowledged the difficulty of closing out large events, especially when Bridgeman held such a commanding lead going into Sunday.
“It's hard to close out big tournaments. Even though he was a little shaky coming down the stretch, he held it together when he needed to," he said.
“That putt on the last isn't easy. Leaves it a little bit short and the crowd reacts and you've got to take your time a little bit. I give him all the props, he did what he needed to.”
The American successfully holed a three footer to claim the $4m prize which catapulted him to the top of the FedEx Cup standings and over $5m in earnings this year.
This continues his fine form this year, comprising two top-10s including an 8th finish at Pebble Beach last week.
