Rory McIlroy's maintenance bill on £38m private jet is absolutely mind-blowing

Rory McIlroy made history to join an elite group of golf players when he won the Masters over the weekend.

The Northern Irishman emerged victorious at Augusta ahead of Justin Rose to win his fifth Majors Championship.

In doing so, McIlroy became only the sixth man to complete a career golf Grand Slam, joining a list which also includes Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and Gary Player.

The Masters victory - with the accompanying green jacket - added to the the US Open, The Open and two US PGA Championships which McIlroy had already claimed, the last of which he won back in 2014.

Reacting to his victory, 35-year-old McIlroy told BBC Sport: "Getting the Masters, the career Grand Slam, the fifth major, getting all that out of the way. I think it will allow me to play with a lot more freedom.

"I really do think it's going to free me up. It's been a long time coming.

"I don't think it will sink in for a while. There have only ever been five other players in history that have done it - Jack [Nicklaus], Tiger [Woods], Gary Player, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, the creme de la creme of golf.

"To think that I've been able to put my name alongside theirs."

A 2022 Gulfstream G650ER jet in flight. (Image: Getty)

The victory in Augusta also earned McIlroy a cool $4.2m - or £3.2m - which is money that might come in handy when one considers the running costs of the private jet he uses.

The Daily Express reports that McIlroy took delivery of a 2022 Gulfstream G650ER jet which he is using to travel to golf tournaments, including the Masters which has recently concluded in Augusta.

The cost of such a jet - which has set more than 125 world speed records and is a popular model - is said to be £38m.

The jet is also used by Cristiano Ronaldo, with the aircraft able to seat 19 passengers and can fly 7,500 nautical miles.

And the annual budget for maintenance costs of the jet, according to LibertyJet, for 200 hours per year is approximately $1,860,909, or $2,995,763 for flying 400 hours per year.

That means the prize money won by McIlroy could run the plane for more than two years if flown for 200 hours annually, or about a year-and-a-half if it is running for 400 hours a year - so it will no doubt come in handy over the coming months.