The Rory Award will make its debut in 2026.
PublishedNovember 11, 2025 2:30 PM EST•UpdatedNovember 11, 2025 2:20 PM EST
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Aside from becoming the No. 1 player in the world, collecting $207 million in career earnings, and completing the career grand slam, having an award named after yourself is right up there on the list of cool accomplishments for a golfer, and it’s Rory McIlroy’s new reality.
The DP World Tour has announced the creation of the Rory McIlroy Award, which will be handed out to the member who earns the most Race to Dubai points across each year’s four major championships. With McIlroy completing the career grand slam in 2025 with his win at the Masters on top of having 20 career wins on the European now DP World Tour in his career, the honor makes plenty of sense, for the most part.
Rory McIlroy has an award named after him, but he can’t actually win it. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The only catch is that McIlroy, who will be among the favorites to earn the most points in the year’s major championships moving forward, can’t actually win the award with the DP World Tour deeming him ineligible. It’s a shame, because Rory McIlroy being honored with the Rory McIlroy Award would be a hilarious scene.
This is probably why awards are typically named after athletes who have either retired or passed away, but the DP World Tour striking while the iron is hot makes sense with McIlroy becoming the first European to complete the career grand slam.
“Whilst Rory will no doubt go on to achieve many more great things during his career, as a Tour we wanted to commemorate his historic achievement this year of becoming the first European winner of the Career Grand Slam,” Guy Kinnings, the CEO of the DP World Tour, said. “This new award will be a permanent legacy that we hope will inspire future generations of DP World Tour members aiming to follow in Rory’s footsteps on golf’s biggest stage.
“Rory has already made such an immense contribution to our Tour and to golf in general across his career to date. He is also a wonderful ambassador for global golf, so we are incredibly pleased to unveil The Rory McIlroy Award in his honour.”
This is the fifth DP World Tour award named after a legendary player on the European circuit, with John Jacobs, Sir Henry Cotton, Harry Vardon, and Seve Ballesteros all having awards named after them as well.
The first winner of the Rory McIlroy Award will be crowned at the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in England.
