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 Northern Irishman welled up following a segment that honoured Mr Aguiar and Mr Stancombe, the recipients of the Helen Rollason Award.
The grieving fathers completed the London Marathon in April to honour the lives of their daughters, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, who were among the three victims of the Southport stabbing attack last summer.
McIlroy, who completed golf’s grand slam when he triumphed at the Masters, was asked by BBC presenter Clare Balding being a father has changed how he views his achievements. His young daughter, Poppy, was at Augusta as he won the Masters.
McIlroy paused and said: “I think as being a father of a little girl, seeing Alice’s and Elsie’s dad up there tonight – they are two absolute heroes. I just wanna, um…”
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McIlroy stopped again and there was applause from the crowd as he blinked a tear from his eye.
“I think being a dad, it makes the losses easier, but it also makes the wins even more special. So to share that with Erica and Poppy [is special].
“My family have watched me go through all of this, along with the public. Everyone has gone on this journey with me.”
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.
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Rory McIlroy receives the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2025 award
Rory McIlroy named BBC Sports Personality of the Year
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 Sir Nick Faldo in 1989 – the year McIlroy was born.
He also becomes the first male winner since Sir 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.
“2025 has been the year that I made my dreams come true,” he said on stage. “From Augusta to the Ryder Cup and everything else in between, it really has been the year that dreams are made of.
Rory McIlroy receives the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2025 award
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – Friday, December 19
“I’ve a lot of people to thank. Firstly, the public, thank you for voting me as your Sports Personality of the Year, but my family, my mum and dad, they sacrificed so much for me and I obviously wouldn’t be here without them.
“My wife, Erica, my daughter, Poppy, they’re what holds me together, my rock.
“They couldn’t be here tonight, they’re back in America, but I can’t wait to get back to see them tomorrow and celebrate this with them as well.
“So thank you for all your support, everything that you’ve done for me over the years.”
McIlroy had been marked for stardom from an early age. Home videos of a three-year-old McIlroy practising in his living room captured a precocious talent, as well as a television appearance aged nine when he chipped balls into a washing machine.
He shot a course record 61 at Royal Portrush aged 16 and came to wider prominence with the only bogey-free round in an opening 68 at the 2007 Open at Carnoustie, before winning his first major at the 2011 US Open.
McIlroy and his Ryder Cup colleagues also secured the Team of the Year prize.
David Stancombe and Sergio Aguiar, the fathers of Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Aguiar who were murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport in the summer of 2024, were recognised with the Helen Rollason Award for their fundraising efforts at the London Marathon in April.
The money raised contributed to projects set up in the memory of their daughters and Bebe King, who was also killed in the attack. Bebe’s parents travelled to London to cheer on Mr Aguiar and Mr Stancombe.
David Stancombe said as he accepted the award: “I’m just a dad keeping a promise to his little girl.”
Former Arsenal and France forward Thierry Henry was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award by his four children, while pole-vaulter Armand Duplantis won the World Sports Star of the Year for the second successive year.
Sarina Wiegman, who steered England in their successful defence of their Women’s Euro title, won coach of the year, having also done so when the Lionesses won the tournament on home soil in 2022.
Michelle Agyemang, one of the stars of Wiegman’s team, won the Young Sports Personality of the Year prize.
Additional reporting from PA