Rory McIlroy's British Open Winning Ball Sold for 3 Lakh at Auction
Rory McIlroy won the British Open and followed up by clinching the US PGA, his fourth Major crown.
Buying pieces of sport equipment can make great business sense if there is some celebrity value attached to it. For example, the ball with which Rory McIlroy won his third Major at Royal Liverpool has become a "dream piece" for the kind of value it received during a recent auction.
The ball which McIlroy fired into the crowd following his British Open championship win at Hoylake has made an astonishing 39000 Euro (Approximately 3 lakh Indian Rupees) at an auction.
A golf memorabilia collector purchased the ball on Sunday three weeks after it appeared on Green Jacket Auctions.
Much like tennis players who slam balls into the stands, an overjoyed McIlroy had flung the golf ball into the crowd at Royal Liverpool. It was caught by Lee Horner from Leeds. On Sunday, McIlroy recovered from a stumbling start to overcome a series of challengers and clinch his fourth Major title by a shot at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky. (My most satisfying win ever, says Rory McIlroy)
"How many chances will a collector have in their entire life to obtain the actual ball used to win a Major Championship?" Green Jacket Auctions said on its website. (Also read: Split with Wozniacki helps McIlroy focus on golf)
"This is a ball that will only gain in significance for the next 20, 50, even 100 years. In the collecting world, this is what's called a "dream piece" - something that no one could ever expect would become available for sale; yet here it is."
A total of 45 bids were placed by 22 different bidders from across the world over the three weeks.