--- description: In 2004, Gerry Mcllroy bet his son would win the British Open before he turned 26, at odds of 500-1 title: Rory Mcllroy's Dad Wins $85K Bet on His Son's British Open Win image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [golf](/tag/golf/) ## golf Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Rory Mcllroy's Dad Wins $85,000 Bet on Son's British Open Win  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jul 21, 2014 12:24 PM CUT  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jul 21, 2014 12:24 PM CUT Rory Mcllroy’s dad Gerry won over $85,000 from a bet he made in 2004 that his son, then 15, would win the British Open within the next 10 years. The elder Mcllroy bet 200 pounds ($341) in 2004 that his son would win the British Open by the age of 25 at odds of 500-1, the [BBC](http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/golf/28400443 "undefined") reports. Rory Mcllroy won the golfing tournament by two shots on Sunday. The bet was made through bookmaker Ladbrokes. > [](https://twitter.com/Ladbrokes/status/490918602271621120) “Nine out of 10 times, these bets come to nothing, but on this occasion the punters definitely knew more than we did,” said Jessica Bridge, spokeswoman for bookmaker Ladbrokes. “And we can only doff our cap to their confidence and foresight.” \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/golf/28400443 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3012292/rory-mcilroy-british-open-dad-bet-winnings/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3012292/rory-mcilroy-british-open-dad-bet-winnings/"},"headline":"Rory Mcllroy's Dad Wins $85,000 Bet on Son's British Open Win","datePublished":"2014-07-21T12:24:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:15:13.968Z","description":"In 2004, Gerry Mcllroy bet his son would win the British Open before he turned 26, at odds of 500-1","url":"https://time.com/3012292/rory-mcilroy-british-open-dad-bet-winnings/","keywords":["golf"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/golf/","name":"golf"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3012292/rory-mcilroy-british-open-dad-bet-winnings/","name":"Rory Mcllroy's Dad Wins $85,000 Bet on Son's British Open Win"}}]}] ```