Hats off to golf and golfers for getting Rory McIlroy his deserved SPOTY

And what a night it turned out to be for golf at the glitzy ceremony in Media City in Salford, with Europe’s Ryder Cup heroes - McIlroy, of course, being one of them and Bob MacIntyre, too - landing the Team of the Year Award.

From the moment he won The Masters for the first time in April to become just the sixth golfer to complete a career grand slam - joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods - McIlroy was always going to be a leading contender for this year’s main prize.

“I suppose if I don’t win it this time, I never will,” the Northern Irishman admitted recently and he was probably right, making the short list with new F1 world champion Lando Norris, darts superstar Luke Littler, England footballers Hannah Hampton and Chloe Kelly and England rugby union player Ellie Kildunne.

Welshman Dai Rees picked up the award back in 1957, when he captained Great Britain & Ireland to a Ryder Cup victory, while Nick Faldo was similarly honoured after the first of his three Masters triumphs in 1989.

Golf had sat on its backside in the past

Apart from when McIlroy finished second to Lewis Hamilton in 2014, when he won The Open, though, golf hadn’t been at the races and, while it certainly wasn’t helped by barely any terrestrial TV coverage, it also hadn’t helped itself.

While other sports became pro-active when SPOTY came around, golf sat on its backside and didn’t really do anything. Not this time, though. People within the sport knew how special McIlroy’s achievement was in becoming the first European to join the career grand slam club.

The DP World Tour and Ryder Cup Europe did a splendid job over the past week or so both in terms of highlighting McIlroy’s credentials and also highlighting that it was down to golfers to vote for him.

Though some disagreed, this correspondent felt Claire Balding, one of the three co-hosts in Manchester, did a good job in presenting his case in her chat with the world No 2, yet there was still a nagging doubt due to the list on this occasion being so strong.

It was a boost, therefore, when Hampton and, in particular, Kelly didn’t make a final three along with Littler, leaving it down to McIlroy, Norris and Kildunne.

Announced by Thierry Henry, who’d earlier been presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award, Kildunne was named as runner-up before Keely Hodgkinson, last year’s winner, said the words we all wanted to hear when she declared: “The BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2025 is Rory McIlroy”.

On the back of Luke Donald’s team being rewarded for becoming just the fifth time to win a Ryder Cup on US soil and doing so on this occasion in New York, it really was a memorable night for golf and especially for the main man because, let’s face it, that’s what he is.

‘Honoured’ to get hands on the trophy

“Wow,” declared McIlroy after receiving a lengthy standing ovation. “Look, 2025 has been the year that I made my dreams come true from Augusta to the Ryder Cup and everything in between.”

Admitting he was “honoured” to get his hands on the trophy, he thanked his mum Rosie and dad Gerry for their “sacrifices” over the years and wife Erica and daughter Poppy for being his “rock”.

Never has a sporting award been more deserving and give yourself a pat on the back if you played a part by voting.