Rory McIlroy sits alongside singers, YouTubers and other sporting greats as one of the top ten celebrity investors, according to research from foreign exchange broker experts at BrokerChooser.

The reigning Masters champion is rounding into form ahead of his tilt at a second Open Championship later this week, finishing tied for second at the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club behind Chris Gotterup at the weekend.

After winning at Augusta and completing a career grand slam in April, the Holywood golfer saw his performances drop off, and he finished out of contention at the PGA Championship and the US Open earlier this summer.

Returning to the course after a three-week break, McIlroy shot 13 under par to finish two shots behind Gotterup in what was his best showing since the Masters.

The 153rd Open Championship starts at Royal Portrush in Co Antrim on Thursday. It will be only the second time the course has hosted the major tournament since 1951.

McIlroy will be hoping to put in a better showing in front of his home crowd after hitting his opening tee shot out-of-bounds and failing to make the cut in 2019, while friend and compatriot Shane Lowry sealed his first major victory.

After going nearly a decade without adding to his major haul prior to Augusta, 2025 has the potential to be a career year for McIlroy.

Despite his ups and downs on the course, the Northern Irishman has seemingly thrived with his investments.

He places tenth on BrokerChaser's list of top celebrity investors after making a return equivalent to 35.2 per cent of his net worth.

The 2025 Sunday Times Rich List pegged his net worth at £260m following his Masters victory.

BrokerChaser estimates that McIlroy has made an annual return of $87.9m from his investments and business interests.

The company analysed 200 celebrities' verifiable investments in real estate, business ventures, financial instruments, collectables, intellectual property and endorsement deals and ranked their returns as a proportion of their net worth

In 2019, McIlroy founded Symphony Ventures, a Dublin-based venture capital firm focused on investing in growing companies, which made a $250m equity investment in ticketing marketplace TickPick last year.

In May, Symphony Ventures partnered with private equity firm TPG to launch TPG Sports, a new investment fund aimed to collaborate with a range of sporting companies, teams, and leagues.

The list is topped by Puerto Rican singer/rapper Bad Bunny whose investments in luxury property deliver annual income of $88m, double his net worth of $43m.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Patrick Mahomes, former MVPs of the NBA and NFL, placed second and third, thanks to annual income of $94.4m and $86.8m, respectively, from endorsement deals, real estate and business ventures.

Antetokounmpo investment returns were equivalent to 100.4 per cent of his net worth, ahead of Mahomes' 96.4 per cent.

YouTuber Mr Beast makes $86.8m from his investments, akin to 70.8 per cent of his $120m net worth while Steph Curry's $156m annual returns are around 62.4 per cent of his $250m net worth.

The top ten is rounded out by Travis Kelce ($52m or 57.8 per cent), football superstars Neymar ($108m or 54 per cent), Kylian Mbappé ($90m or 50 per cent), and Cristiano Ronaldo ($275m or 39.9 per cent), and McIlroy.

Kevin Durant ($101.4m or 33.8 per cent), Lionel Messi ($135m or 21.8 per cent), Drake ($75m or 18.8 per cent) Taylor Swift ($190m or 15.9 per cent) and Beyoncé ($100m or 12.8 per cent) complete the top 15.

The later three, all musicians, derive most of their investment returns from the value of their intellectual property (ie songwriting royalties).

Photo: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland reacts after thinking his got a hole-in-one on the 12th hole on day four of the Genesis Scottish Open 2025 at The Renaissance Club on July 13, 2025 in North Berwick, Scotland. (Pic: Warren Little/Getty Images)