How much did Rory McIlroy win at The Match’s closest-to-the-hole playoff? Prize money explored

The ninth edition of The Match concluded with Rory McIlroy trumping Lexi Thompson, Rose Zhang, and Max Homa in a sudden-death, closest-to-hole playoff on Monday, February 26.

The Match IX took place under the lights at The Park in West Palm Beach for the first time when female professionals participated in Capital One's charity event.

While McIlroy raised $2.4 million, he was not financially rewarded for the win as it was a charity event and all the money raised was donated to the charity. However, he was given a Tiffany bracelet as memorabilia. More than $41 million has been raised by The Match over the nine editions of Capital One's The Match.

McIlroy collected $800,000 by winning six of the first eight skins. Thompson was the distant second, as she collected $200,000 by winning the other two. The final four holes were tied since no one could win even one skin. In the closest-to-the-pin challenge, golfers were required to hit from a 100-yard distance. While the Northern Irishman was able to land it just over four feet away from the pin, the other three could not even be in contention.

The 34-year-old golfer was pretty satisfied with his game on Monday night and hoped to carry the performance over in the next few days too.

"I just think (I will remember) how much fun it was, being out here with Max [Homa] and Rose [Zhang], and Lexi [Thompson] and playing at such a great facility. All these people out here, the atmosphere, it was a really cool night," he said as per Sky Sports.

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Is Rory McIlroy playing the Cognizant Classic?

Rory McIlroy during the 2024 Genesis Invitational: Final Round

The four-time Major champion will return to the Cognizant Classic after a gap of six years as he has entered the playing field for this week's event that kicks off on Thursday, February 29 at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

The 2024 Cognizant Classic will feature 19 of the top 50 players in the OWGR competing for a $9,000,000 prize purse. The winner will also receive $1,620,000, the highest winning payout in the event's history

McIlroy is the past champion at the Palm Beach Gardens, as he won the event in 2012, beating Tom Gillis and Tiger Woods by two strokes. He had also finished runner-up two years later. The field will also feature the likes of Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young, Rickie Fowler, and Tom Kim, as well as defending champion Chris Kirk.

Last year, Kirk beat rookie Eric Cole in a playoff hole to win his fifth title on the PGA Tour. This year, Kirk has already won the Sentry, the first Signature event of the season.

He has already won a title this year, as he successfully defended the title at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, beating Adrian Meronk by one stroke.