Rory McIlroy pays £780 for Uber driver to fetch his old golf clubs from Florida home in 150-mile dash to The Players
RORY MCILROY forked out £780 to have his old clubs driven to him by taxi — as he was unhappy with a new set his sponsors provided.
And McIlroy, 35, said that call helped his excellent start to the Players Championship.
He went into the third round two shots off the lead on nine under.
The world No.2 revealed he did not feel comfortable with purpose-built clubs in last week’s Arnold Palmer Championship at Bay Hill.
So before the final round he had the old ones driven from his home in the Florida coastal resort of Jupiter in an Uber.
McIlroy paid £520 for the 150-mile trip plus a £260 tip.
He explained: “There isn’t a big difference.
“Although the new ones do give me a few extra yards.
“But if it means hitting a seven iron into a green rather than an eight iron, I’ll deal with it.
“I’ll take that if the club feels more natural.
“Sometimes it can be love at first sight with new equipment.
“Or it takes a bit of time to adjust.”
McIlroy is now four behind leader J. J. Spaun who is 12 under.
Ahead of Sunday’s play, McIlroy added: “I think when you’re a little further back, you’d rather have some testy conditions.
“I’m not out of it by any means. The wind is supposed to still be blowing, so it was nice to birdie [the 18th] to just get one closer to J.J.
“I was obviously keeping a close eye on what he was doing and trying to stay somewhat in touch with him. I saw that a few guys struggled on the way in.
“This golf course on the best of days can do that, but whenever the conditions are like this, there’s some big numbers lurking out there.”
Masters Champion's prize money over the years
1934-1941: $1,500 (£1,183)
1943-1945: Not held (WWII)
1946-1948: $2,500 (£1,971)
1949: $2,750 (£2,168)
1950: $2,400 (£1,892)
1951: $3,000 (£2,365)
1952-1953: $4,000 (£3,154)
1954-55: $5,000 (£3,942)
1956: $6,000 (£4,730)
1957: $8,750 (£6,898)
1958: $11,250 (£8,869)
1959: $15,000 (£11,826)
1960: $17,500 (£13,797)
1961-1969: $20,000 (£15,768)
1970-1972: $25,000 (£19,710)
1973: $30,000 (£23,652)
1974: $35,000 (£27,594)
1975-1977: $40,000 (£31,536)
1978: $45,000 (£35,478)
1979: $50,000 (£39,420)
1980: $55,000 (£43,361)
1981: $60,000 (£47,303)
1982: $64,000 (£50,257)
1983: $90,000 (£70,955)
1984: $108,000 (£85,146)
1985: $126,000 (£99,337)
1986: $144,000 (£113,528)
1987: $162,000 (£127,719)
1988: $183,800 (£144,906)
1989: $200,000 (£157,678)
1990: $225,000 (£177,388)
1991: $243,000 (£191,579)
1992: $270,000 (£212,865)
1993: $306,000 (£241,247)
1994: $360,000 (£283,820)
1995: $396,000 (£312,202)
1996: $450,000 (£354,776)
1997: $486,000 (£383,158)
1998: $576,000 (£454,113)
1999: $720,000 (£567,641)
2000: $828,000 (£652787)
2001-2002: $1,008,000 (£794,697)
2003: $1,080,000 (£851,461)
2004: $1,117,000 (£880,631)
2005-2006: $1,260,000 (£994,536)
2007: $1,305,000 (£1,030,056)
2008-2010: $1,350,000 (£1,064,326)
2011-2013: $1,440,000 (£1,135,281)
2014: $1,620,000 (£1,277,191)
2015-2016: $1,800,000 (£1,419,102)
2017-2018: $1,980,000 (£1,561,012)
2019-2021: $2,070,000 (£1,631,967)
2022: $2,700,000 (£2,128,653)
2023-2024: $3,240,000 (£2,554,383)