A small victory for Rory McIlroy but an even bigger one for golf.
This was the night casual British sports fans finally took golf seriously by electing McIlroy the winner of the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) award. Or, perhaps more accurately, casual English fans, given Scotland’s historic love of the game and Northern Ireland’s obvious affection for their local hero.
Even those who have never stepped foot on a fairway recognised the Northern Irishman’s performance this year as he completed a career grand slam with victory at the Masters before spearheading Europe to a Ryder Cup success on U.S. soil.
The art of smashing and then carefully caressing a little white ball into a hole has rarely been appreciated at SPOTY, the annual jamboree held by the UK’s leading public state broadcaster since 1954 and which endeavours to reward the sportsman or woman that has most captivated the British public with their feats that year (ideally with some good grace and generosity of spirit thrown in).
It is an event which has as many detractors as it does supporters, its chief criticism that the public vote places too much emphasis on ‘personality’ rather than the scale of achievement.
No major sport has been less recognised at SPOTY than golf. Before McIlroy, only two players had won it: the Welshman Dai Rees in 1957, and then Englishman Nick Faldo following his Masters success in 1989.
Darren Clarke came close in 2006 but lost to Zara Phillips, Queen Elizabeth II’s horse-riding granddaughter, who won a World Eventing gold medal that year. McIlroy’s efforts in winning two majors in 2014 weren’t even rewarded with a position in the final top three, a fate that also befell the 2022 U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick. Poor Georgia Hall failed to even make the shortlist after winning the Women’s Open in 2018.
For youngsters taking up the sport, SPOTY is not the award they dream of winning. It certainly wasn’t for McIlroy all those years ago when he was a kid knocking it around his local Holywood Golf Club in Northern Ireland and dissecting Tiger Woods’ shots on television.
Back then, McIlroy wanted to win majors, and this year he finally got them all, as well as adding two more PGA Tour titles and the Amgen Irish Open to his CV.
McIlroy finally got his hands on a Masters green jacket this year (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
That the voters recognised this alone and selected him ahead of F1 world champion Lando Norris, darts phenomenon Luke Littler, England women’s footballers Chloe Kelly, Hannah Hampton (both Euro 2025 winners), and Ellie Kildunne, who won the rugby union Women’s World Cup, was notable in itself.
But it’s the nuances that really make all the difference. McIlroy won at Augusta after a toe-curling final round that displayed both his vulnerabilities and then his strength to overcome them. It was at this venue that he famously blew up at the same stage as a fresh-faced 21-year-old and struggled to hold back the tears, so of course, it had extra significance.
At Bethpage Black, with the Ryder Cup on the line, McIlroy and his wife were also berated by the U.S. crowd to such an extent that the great Tom Watson said he felt “ashamed” and issued an apology on behalf of his country.
And that’s where personality does come into it. Now 36 and a father, McIlroy has battled demons to hit the top. He shrugged off his crowd critics to win 3.5 points for Europe in the Ryder Cup and showed courage, resilience and a mixture of both strength and skill throughout.
When he’s out playing, he often draws the largest following because he can rip a driver a country mile and then delicately dink a bunker shot to an inch. And whenever he misses a three-foot putt — as he is prone to do — it resonates with club golfers who do the same every weekend.
Traditionalists also like that he’s remained a staunch supporter of the PGA Tour at a time when others have moved to the breakaway LIV Golf circuit. Although he’s not as naturally charismatic as, say, Bryson DeChambeau, who delights social media with his trick shots and counts President Donald Trump as a personal friend, he’s more fun and engaging than Scottie Scheffler, the best player on the planet and the only man above him in the Official World Golf Rankings.
McIlroy enjoys the Ryder Cup celebrations (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
SPOTY is often a rubber-stamping of public affection, so likability is important. That may also explain why, traditionally, golf has not done so well in it. In the UK, golfers are often ridiculed for their silly clothes in flashy colours, and until more recent times, it was seen as elitist.
McIlroy has changed that. He has always come across as personable and approachable, but this year has delivered a whole new level of cut-through. His bellowed rendition of “Are you watching Donald Trump?’ with his Europe team-mates went viral after the Ryder Cup win, while his on-course mishaps — this season he has hit a ‘whiff’ (air shot), struck a ball off a banana peel and miraculously unearthed another ball at the Open — chime with any amateur sportsperson who has endured comic calamity.
His victory tonight may be a footnote in a career which has already placed him in the pantheon of European greats, but for the sport it is a moment that really mattered.
This was McIlroy’s time — and it was golf’s, too.
