McIlroy didn’t need to think hard. It was 2007 and he had made $20,530 on the DP World Tour for a T-42 finish at the British Masters. He followed that up with a third-place finish at the Alfred Dunhill Cup, which banked $286,769, and a T-4 at the Madrid Open, where he cashed a check for $56,425. That’s when he made an eye-opening discovery.

As he prepares for the BMW Championship this week, McIlroy admitted to making a "horrific" purchase with his first paycheck and believes Keegan Bradley might be on the verge of a massive blunder. When questioned about his first major purchase after joining the PGA Tour,