On the 18th of December 2025, Rory McIlroy was named the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. The annual awards ceremony took place in Salford, and McIlroy, who was the clear favourite to land the prize, was honoured after a wonderful year of golf.
McIlroy had finished second back in 2014, the year when he won the third and fourth majors of his career. At that point, pundits were wondering if he might be able to challenge Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus in terms of career wins in the big four events.
It seemed just a matter of time before he added the US Masters to his 2011 US Open, 2012 and 2014 USPGA, and Open success of 2014, to complete the career Grand Slam. However, life has a way of challenging and testing even the best, and Rory endured a long, long wait to add his fifth major, something most assumed he would have done in 2015, or certainly 2016.
That wait, and the many near misses and agonising defeats he suffered over the decade and more between his fourth and fifth majors, only made it all the more glorious when it came. In April, McIlroy became just the sixth player in the entire history of the game to have won all four majors. That alone may have been enough to secure the Northern Irish star the SPOTY prize, but his year involved several other major highs as well.
Image credit: Gary Yee / Shutterstock.com.
Historic Year for Brilliant McIlroy
| Month | Tournament Won | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|
| January | Pebble Beach Pro-Am | $3.6m |
| March | Players Championship | $4.5m |
| April | Masters | $4.2m |
| September | Irish Open | €873k |
Even before McIlroy put all his demons to bed by ending his major drought and clinching the career Grand Slam, he had already enjoyed a fine year. In February, he shot 21 under par to claim the AT&T at Pebble Beach. In March, he became the eighth player ever to win The Players more than once, and those two wins set him up perfectly for Augusta.
He was clearly playing brilliant golf, and he would join Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler as the only players to follow up a victory at Sawgrass with a win at the Masters. At Augusta, he beat friend and Ryder Cup colleague Justin Rose in a play-off after the pair finished tied on minus 11.
They took very different routes to their total of 277, though, and after the opening round, McIlroy was seven shots adrift of Rose, the duo shooting 72 and 65 respectively. The eventual winner was superb in the middle two rounds, though, shooting back-to-back 66s. Rose could only manage 71-75 on Friday and Saturday, but roared into contention with a brilliant 66 on Sunday.
It had seemed that McIlroy had the tournament sewn up, but then both the player and his fans have learned over the years not to count their chickens too soon. However, he slipped from 14 under through 10 to just 10 under after 14 and even briefly relinquished the lead after Rose, who was playing ahead, birdied the 16th.
It was a thrilling battle, with Ludvig Aaberg involved in a three-way tie for the lead at one stage. It swung one way then the other until on the 72nd hole, McIlroy had a putt from five feet to claim glory. He missed, and with Rose having made three up the last earlier, the pair went to extra holes.
In fact, McIlroy needed just one more hole, making a brilliant three on the 18th after sending his wedge to just four feet. He had done it at last, and almost everyone in golf was delighted for him.
Ryder Cup Win in US Another Huge Tick
At the start of 2025, Rory had said he was not focused on just three goals that, if achieved, would mean he could be entirely happy with his golf career. He wanted to land the Masters, win the Ryder Cup on US soil again, and claim an Olympic medal. He will have to wait until LA 2028, at least, for Olympic glory, but 2025 saw him tick off his other two aims.
As he had with the Masters, he had an almost-perfect preparation for the Ryder Cup. On the 7th of September, he won the Irish Open for the second time. His home event means so much to him, but his second victory in the tournament was particularly memorable.
He needed an eagle on the 72nd hole to force a play-off. Cometh the hour, cometh Rory. He drained a 28-foot eagle putt to the clear delight of the home supporters and then delivered the goods in the play-off to take glory.
He would head to New York for the Ryder Cup in fine spirits and excellent form. He is the de facto leader of the European team and the player everyone looks to. In the face of incredible hostility from the crowd at Bethpage, which frequently crossed all lines of decency, he once again produced the goods.
He stayed calm when he had to and used his emotion when it worked for him and Team Europe. He won 3.5 points and played a huge part in Europe’s thrilling 13-15 win, proving untouchable alongside Tommy Fleetwood in the foursomes.
More Race to Dubai Success
If his win at the Masters wasn’t enough to land him the SPOTY prize, the Ryder Cup surely was, but there was still more to come from McIlroy. At the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, he once again made an eagle on the last hole to secure a play-off.
This time, he was unable to win it, losing out to another colleague from Bethpage, Matt Fitzpatrick. However, the result was enough to see him claim the Race to Dubai title for the seventh time. That moved him ahead of another European icon, Seve, and just one behind Colin Montgomerie and was a brilliant way to end the year on the course, with SPOTY proving to be the cherry on the cake.
Rory McIlroy wins the Race to Dubai for a SEVENTH time 🏆 pic.twitter.com/w3198RCh6I
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 16, 2025
Golf’s Limited SPOTY Success
As said, Rory himself was runner-up in SPOTY 2014 when Lewis Hamilton took the prize, and athlete Jo Pavey came third. Overall, athletics is the sport that has delivered the most winners of the iconic BBC prize. In many ways, that is surprising, as is the fact that F1 is second. There have been 19 winners from the world of athletics and eight from Formula One, but Rory was just the third golfer to win SPOTY since the first awards back in 1954.
Welsh star Dai Rees won in 1957, largely for his role as winning captain in that year’s Ryder Cup. Back in those days, the contest saw Great Britain face the USA, and the former rarely won. Golf’s second Sports Personality of the Year was Nick Faldo, who saw off fellow British legends Frank Bruno and Steve Davis in 1989.
Quite why golf has struggled to cut through and have a broader appeal in terms of delivering SPOTY champions is unclear. However, there is no doubt that Rory was a worthy and deserving victor following a monumental 2025.