Rory McIlroy becomes the first golfer since the 1980s to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award after stellar 2025
Rory McIlroy after receiving the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2025 award during the 2025 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards held at dock10 Studios at MediaCityUK, Salford. David Davies/PA Wire.
Rory McIlroy’s stellar successes in 2025 have earned him the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, making him the first golfer to win the accolade since McIlroy himself was in nappies.
The 36-year-old won the Masters in April, beating Englishman Justin Rose in a play-off to complete the career grand slam of golf’s four major titles.
He then contributed three-and-a-half points to Europe’s tally as they beat the United States to win the Ryder Cup in New York, their first away victory over the US in 13 years.
McIlroy won the public vote for the BBC prize ahead of England’s Rugby World Cup-winning star Ellie Kildunne and new Formula One world champion Lando Norris.
England footballers Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton, and darts world champion Luke Littler were the other three shortlisted stars.
His success makes him the first golfer to win the award since Nick Faldo in 1989 – the year McIlroy was born.
He also becomes the first male winner since Lewis Hamilton in 2020, and the first Northern Irishman to win it since AP McCoy in 2010.
He came close to winning it in 2014, losing out to Hamilton despite winning the Open and the US PGA Championship that year.
McIlroy, who flew in from the Golf Channel Games event in Florida to attend the ceremony in Salford, also won a seventh Race to Dubai title this year, leaving him one behind Colin Montgomerie’s record.
