Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland lines up his putt on the 12th green during the third round of the British Open Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, northern England July 19, 2014.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland lines up his putt on the 12th green during the third round of the British Open Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, northern England July 19, 2014. REUTERS

Rory McIlroy is known as one the best golfers in the world and is on the cusp of winning the 2014 British Open. His father, Gerry McIlroy believed his son could be the best ten years ago, putting a wager on Rory to win the The Open Championship before he turns 26 years old.

According to BBC’s Andrew Cotter, Rory’s dad plus a few friends made a £400 bet (now valued at roughly AUD $728) in 2004 and that bet is now looking good with his son holding a six-shot lead entering the final round of competition.

So just to confirm - 10 yrs ago Gerry McIlroy & three friends put £400 at 500-1 on 15 year-old Rory to win The Open before he turned 26.

— Andrew Cotter (@MrAndrewCotter) July 19, 2014

Through three rounds, McIlroy (-16) is atop the leaderboard after shooting 66, 66 and 68. McIlroy’s nearest rivals for the title are Rickey Fowler (-10); Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson (-9); and Victor Dubuisson (-8).

If Rory, who is currently 25 years, 2 months and 16 days old, holds on to the lead and win the title, Gerry will net a £200,000 payout (AUD $364,000)— just about a third of the potential AUD 1.27M championship purse for his son—after placing the wager at 500-to-1 odds (501.00) ten years ago.

Bettors can still try to follow Gerry’s lead and bet on McIlroy entering the final round but the payout odds is expectedly not as pretty ten years ago. Online sportsbooks have now pegged McIlroy as 1.10 favourites (1/10)—which means every $100 bet on McIlroy will only net $10 this time.

Odds to Win British Open 2014
 Rory McIlroy (1.10)
Rickie Fowler (15.00)
Sergio Garcia (26.00)
Dustin Johnson (29.00)
Victor Dubuisson (101.00)
Adam Scott (126.00)
Graeme Mcdowell (201.00)
Charl Schwartzel (251.00)

Barring a major collapse, it looks Rory McIlroy will win the 2014 British Open—and make his dad and friends $364K richer.