PGA Championship 2014 Winner Rory McIlroys Winning Ball Sold for $52K

How much would you pay for Rory McIlroy's winning ball from his first Open Championship? For some, this milestone ball is worth over $52,000.

According to ESPN, McIlroy threw the winning ball into the stands after his first Open Championship win at Hoylake in July, which was caught by Lee Horner from Leeds, U.K. The Englishman, instead of keeping the ball in a glass case at home, took the more enterprising route and consigned it to Green Jacket Auctions, who immediately put the ball up for sale. Eventually, it was purchased for $52,038 by an unnamed American golf memorabilia collector who wanted to stay anonymous. Horner reportedly received a little over $38,000 for the ball. 

"There was a lot of interest in this ball. We had 22 bidders from countries across the world, including Ireland, Australia and countries in Asia," Ryan Carey, co-founder of the auction house, was quoted as saying. The ball is confirmed as McIlroy's because it had the word "RORS" printed on it by Nike, his sponsor.

News on the ball's sale was shortly followed by McIlroy's sucessful bout at the 2014 PGA Championship, where he bagged the victory in just one shot over Phil Mickeson. This is his second straight major title, writes CNN.com, and his third straight victory after WGC-Bridgestone. In his thank you speech, the 25-year-old acknowledged Mickelson and Rickie Fowler for their sportsmanship, although, he noted that he didn't doubt that he would win. "I wanted to win this thing and get out of here. I'd never dreamed I'd have a summer like this," he reportedly said. 

McIlroy has to win the U.S. Masters if he wants to complete a full set of majors. He then has to prepare for the Augusta Masters, arguably reserved to only the best and most elite players, which happens in April 2015.

With his first championship ball fetching over $52,000, how much do you think somebody would pay for his new PGA ball? Would the same American collector be interested in getting it?  According to Golf Week, it is putting another Rory McIlroy ball up, the one he threw into the stands at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, in November.