A GOLFER missed out on a $4million winner’s prize by just one shot – after flying himself to the tournament.

Maverick McNealy, 29, produced a thrilling performance in the final round of the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines.

He shot a superb eight-under-par 64 to finish on -11 – going eight under through the first 11 holes.

But the American was pipped by Swedish sensation Ludvig Aberg who birdied four of the final six holes including the 18th to snatch the prestigious title by one shot.

And Aberg was handed over the trophy by none other than host Tiger Woods.

As for McNealy, though, he had to settle for second and a mere $2.2m [£1.75m].

But in the grand scheme of things, that is a fraction of the $1billion fortune he will inherit.

McNealy’s dad Scott co-founded tech firm Sun Microsystems and sold the company to Oracle in 2010 for $7.4bn [£5.9bn].

It means Maverick and his three brothers – all named after American cars – are all set to become billionaires.

And it is thought that may well make McNealy the richest golfer in the world.

His epic fortune places him above legends such as Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Rory Mcllroy and Phil Mickelson on the golfing rich list.

But former world No1 amateur McNealy is certainly making a name for himself and boosting his bank balance on the golf course with £12m in career earnings.

But as well as his management science and engineering degree, custom-made irons and rise to 14th in the world rankings, McNealy is a qualified pilot.

The Californian, who has one PGA Tour win at the RSM Classic in November, secured his license in 2023 at the age of 27 – the same year he married wife Maya.

And he even flew his own private plane to Torrey Pines for the Genesis Invitational.

Speaking about his unique arrival to the famous course, McNealy told Golfweek: “It was a really fun way to get here. Kind of unique for me on the PGA Tour.

“I’m going to use it a ton to get to La Quinta for better weather practice and up north to Tahoe in the summer when it gets too hot in Las Vegas.”

On his narrow miss behind Aberg at Torrey Pines, he added: “It [second] is more than I could have asked for to start the day.

“It was one of those things where I got on a roll early and there were some gettable flags.

“When you get on a roll you just don’t want to get off it and I tried to keep it going as long as possible.

“I had a few poor shots and an unlucky break or two at the end but definitely had a few things go my way early in this round and it was just a ton of fun to be up there, to have a chance.

“Ludvig played awesome.”