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Gerry McIlroy, the father of golfer Rory McIlroy, cashed in big time when his son won the British Open at Royal Liverpool on July 20. Is seems McIlroy senior knew his son was a very special golfer as far back as 10 years ago. This is when he and three of his pals placed a combined 400 pound bet on Rory winning the British Open by the time he reached the age of 26. The four men made the wager at odds of 500 to 1 back in 2004 and the paid off when the Northern Irishman won the Claret Jug at the age of 25.

The wager landed the men 200,000 pounds or 50,000 each while Rory pulled in about a million pounds for winning the Claret Jug. McIlroy led the tournament from wire to wire since he got an early lead in the first round and never looked back. He won the Open by two strokes over runners-up Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler. McIlroy shot 71 on the par-72 course in the final round to finish the tournament 17 under par at 271.

McIlroy has now won three of the four majors that constitute a Grand Slam since he’s also won the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in the past by eight shots each. He still needs to win the Masters to complete the Grand Slam. McIlroy is now the first European golfer to win three of the four majors since the Masters was launched back in 1934. He’s also the third golfer since 1934 to win three majors before he turned 26 years old. Jack Nicklaus was the first to do it when he was 23 and Tiger Woods also achieved the feat when he was 24.

Since McIlroy won the British Open wire to wire and Martin Kaymer had the lead wire to wire in last month’s U.S. Open it became the first time in history that two straight majors were won in that manner. McIlroy’s win has now boosted him to number two in the world rankings. While McIlroy had one of the best tournaments of his life fan favourite Tiger Woods struggled through one of his worst ever. Woods shot a three over par 75 in the final round and finished the event in 69th place. He finished 13 shots behind McIlroy and his performance was his worst ever at a 72-hole major.