Rory McIlroy: U.S. Open Champ Cashes in After Winning Shanghai Masters

Rory McIlroy finally won a Masters tournament.

No, not The Masters, but McIlroy took down the Shanghai Masters today in China and claimed the biggest prize in all of golf.

McIlroy is now the proud owner of a $2 million check after beating Anthony Kim in a playoff hole.

While winning the Shanghai Masters doesn’t garner him a prestigious prize, that’s certainly a lot of money for the 22-year-old Irishman.

He also won in dramatic fashion.

McIlroy had a chance to win on the 18th, but missed an eight-foot birdie putt that drew him even with Kim and sent the two into a playoff.

You know both golfers were competing hard during that playoff because the difference between first and second was $1,250,000. That’s quite a big discrepancy.

When Rory was asked about his performance, he said,

"

"It's something that I feel like I can still get better at is winning and putting yourself in the position to win when you're not playing your best," McIlroy said.

"Even if it's scrappy golf where you grind it out, you're going to win a lot more tournaments by doing that rather than playing your best golf the whole week. I was very happy I was able to pull this one out.”

"

By winning that "scrappy" game of golf, McIlroy further lined his already deep pockets, and it should allow him to enjoy more of China as he hangs out waiting for the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions at the Sheshan International event, which will take place next weekend.

Unfortunately, Rory didn’t gain any ground on Lee Westwood or Luke Donald in the world rankings, as the event isn’t sanctioned by any major tour.

If I were Rory, I wouldn’t be too upset about the rankings, as I am now $2 million richer and still well on my way to the world No. 1 spot.