It comes as little surprise that Rory McIlroy’s is among the six names shortlisted for the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.
Should he receive the most public votes, McIlroy would become just the third golfer to win the award, after Welshman Dai Rees in 1957 and Nick Faldo in 1989, and the fourth Northern Irish athlete, following Olympic Gold Medal-winning pentathlete Mary Peters in 1972, world champion boxer Barry McGuigan in 1985, and legendary jockey Tony McCoy in 2010.
McIlroy finished runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in 2014, and was shortlisted again in 2023, but he is the bookmakers’ favourite to secure first place in this year’s vote after a career-defining year in which he ended a decade-plus major drought by winning the Masters at Augusta National, and played a leading role in the European Ryder Cup success in New York.
He also claimed a seventh Harry Vardon Trophy as the leading player on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai, won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Players Championship on the PGA Tour, and secured a memorable home victory – his second – in the Amgen Irish Open at The K Club.
The other five names on the shortlist are English footballers Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton, newly-crowned Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris, reigning PDC Darts World Champion Luke Littler, and rugby union player Ellie Kildunne.
“This has been a breathtaking year for sport, driven by athletes whose performances belong in the history books,” said Alex Kay-Jelski, BBC Director of Sport, on revealing the shortlist.
“Each one has delivered moments of pure brilliance that have defined 2025.
“It’s been incredible to watch, and I can’t wait to honour their achievements, and to see who the nation chooses as the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2025.”
The winner will be announced on the live broadcast on BBC One on Thursday, December 18.
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