Rory McIlroy Card Market after Masters Win
Yesterday, after one of the greatest Sundays in Masters' history, Rory McIlory finally got the monkey off his back, beating Justin Rose in a playoff to secure his first-ever Masters championship, and his own personal career grand slam. Let's take a look at the champ's most valuable cards and how collectors reacted as McIlroy played his way to the Green Jacket.
Capturing the grand slam on the grandest stage!
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 13, 2025
Rory McIlroy has won the Masters 🏆
pic.twitter.com/dIHYCa9giQ
McIlory's most expensive solo card is his 2013 Upper Deck Employee Precious Metal Gems card. The top solo sale of a Rory card came in October 2022, when a PSA 10 version of the card was sold for $5,160.
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Some of McIlory's biggest sales have come as dual autographed cards with fellow career grand slam winner Tiger Woods. The 2014 SP Authentic Dual Auto Sign of the Times card was the highest sale, per Card Ladder, at $6,400 in May of last year. This topped the $5,535 sale of a dual auto 2014 UD Black National Rivals Signatures card.
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From the time that McIlroy teed off last Thursday in what would be a title-winning charge, his card sales have increased. Since Friday, at writing, Card Ladder has registered 13 four-figure McIlroy sales, nine of which have come starting on Sunday. The most expensive was $4,680 for a 2014 SP Rookie Patch Auto numbered to /199 that sold through Fanatics Collect. In the week before, there were no McILroy sales of $1000 or more.
A PSA 9/Auto 10 version of McIlroy's 2014 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions sold for $1,499.95, also on Masters Sunday.
McIlroy's early Sports Illustrated for Kids cards have been popular over the last few days as well. Card Ladder registers 32 sales, at writing. The top sale was $800 for a signed version of 2011 card #83. The other card, 2013 #214, had a signed version sell for $499.99. Both sales came on Sunday. All in all, sales of the SI for Kids ranged from $11 - $800.
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While McIlroy has long been one of golf's biggest stars, Sunday's Masters victory ended a decade-plus chase to finish his career grand slam. Now that he's done it, he joins Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, as the only golfers to do so. Now, it seems, collectors have also upped the chase for his cards.
Michael Terry is a writer based in Brooklyn. He specializes in sports, culture, and collecting. His work has appeared at Topps RIPPED, ESPN, Grantland, Vice Sports, and more.