Tiger Woods enhanced his already formidable coffers by £500,000 sterling when he captured the 129th British Open by a crushing eight-stroke margin here on the Old Course yesterday.
Money was a decidedly minor consideration, though, for a player who seems destined to radically rewrite golfing history.
On a marvellous golfing occasion which, for the most part, was blessed by delightful weather, Woods made some notable entries in the record books. At 24, he became the youngest winner of the game's four professional major titles, while setting a record aggregate of 269 - 19 under par - for this famous venue.
Equally impressive was an eight-stroke victory margin over South Africa's Ernie Els and Denmark's Thomas Bjorn, which was the biggest in 130 years. The highest Irish finisher was Tyrone's Darren Clarke, who was bitterly disappointed to have slipped from a share of fourth place overnight, to be tied seventh.
In victory, Woods embraced his New Zealand caddie, Steve Williams, then his US coach, Butch Harmon. All the while, his proud Thai mother, Kultida, photographed her son's walk up the 18th fairway, before eventually allowing the tears to flow. "Every player who has ever played the game has wanted to win a British Open at St Andrews," Woods said. "It is the ultimate."
A remarkable aspect of what has now become the Woods era is how he utterly demolishes his rivals. Last month he won the US Open by a record for a major of 15 strokes and now, after another record margin for modern times, he has become the first winner of the US Open and British Open since Tom Watson in 1982.
He joins Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player as the only players to have won the US Masters, US Open, British Open and USPGA titles.