Winner bought lottery tickets on whim

RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Brian McCarthy had just gone to the ATM and figured $5 worth of Virginia lottery tickets would be a good investment -- and he was right.

McCarthy, 25, an account manager for Pepsi and the son of Marriott President Robert McCarthy, won a $107 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot last month on one of the tickets he had purchased from the Giant grocery store in Herndon, Va.

McCarthy opted for the lump sum payment of $68 million and ABC reports he so far has taken a golfing trip to Ireland, gone to Alaska with his sister, bought a new car -- a BMW M3 -- and donated $59,000 to charity. He also quit his job.

"It's a surreal feeling," McCarthy told WJLA-TV, Washington. "It's something that you read about in the newspaper about somebody else."