Rory McIlroy may end up losing as much as £20million of his tournament winnings and endorsements in 2025, according to a sports finance expert. The Northern Irishman has experienced great success so far this golfing season, beginning the year with wins at the Players Championship and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. His most significant victory came at the 2025 Masters, where he completed the career Grand Slam and earned £3.1m for his troubles.
However, despite earning millions from various wins so far this year, Dr. Rob Wilson claims that McIlroy could be hit with the long arm of the taxman in the future, significantly damaging what he has acquired so far. Dr Wilson, a professor of Applied Sport Finance at Sheffield Hallam University, believes that McIlroy could lose as much as £20m to tax in 2025, which is under half of what the Masters winner is expected to earn altogether.
Speaking to OLBG, the finance guru said: “With Rory McIlroy, we’re talking about a player who will be earning north of £50million annually. That of course is across his prize money and his endorsements.
“This year, you’re looking at a potential £75million year given his recent success at the Masters. The PGA Championship alone offers around $3.3million (£2.5m) for the winner but as we know the tax implications depend very much on the jurisdiction so where the tax earnings are situated in the world.
“So let’s just take Rory as a Northern Irish resident, he’ll be subject to UK tax. On any worldwide income that will be up to 45%. When he competes in the US, he’s also liable for US federal and state taxes, though he can claim tax relief under the existing UK US tax treaty.
“It’s interesting to see whether that will continue under President Trump.”
Dr Wilson stated that the Belfast-born golfer could pay up to 50% tax for his overall earnings this year, which is equivalent to an eye-watering £20m – or just under half of his estimated annual earnings for 2025.
He added: “Overall, I would suggest he’s probably losing somewhere between 40-50% of his gross playing income to tax depending on where that’s earned. Obviously you need to deduct all of his expenses and they’re to be significant because of the lifestyle of a golfer, travel, accommodation, all that stuff is going to come off a lot of those figures.
“Say we take that £50million annually, he’s not going to lose £25million of that, but he’ll lose a heavy proportion, perhaps £20million in tax.
“Critically though, his corporate structures and image rights vehicles will be optimised of course to defer and reduce some of those liabilities. So it’s difficult to put a headline rate on it for you.
“Around 40-50% is what you would expect to pay, but the corporate structures will reduce that. It’ll be a heavy tax bill I would imagine, but you can only pay tax if you’ve earned the money.”
This money bombshell comes just before McIlroy – whose staggering net worth is reported to be around the £225m mark – aims for yet another major tournament victory at the PGA Championship, beginning on Thursday, May 15.
The winner’s cut of the £13.9m purse is estimated to be around £2.5m in 2025, meaning that if the Northern Irishman does claim another major, he would have to pay tax on this victory as well.
McIlroy will tee off at the PGA Championship alongside Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler at 1:22pm UK time in Thursday’s first round at Quail Hollow in North Carolina, with his eyes set firmly on the golden prize.
