{"id":357985,"date":"2025-12-19T11:51:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T11:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/357985\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:51:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T11:51:14","slug":"rory-mcilroy-wins-spoty-after-astonishing-masters-and-ryder-cup-triumphs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/357985\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy wins Spoty after astonishing Masters and Ryder Cup triumphs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not before time, a slightly tearful, but impressively gracious, Rory McIlroy has been crowned the BBC sports personality of the year. <\/p>\n

The voting public has had a curious attitude towards those who split fairways with astonishing precision, with Nick Faldo the last golfer to win in 1989 (the year McIlroy was born, no less) and Dai Rees, in 1957, the only other one to take home the trophy in the previous seven decades of this television programme. <\/p>\n

But for the manner in which he completed a career grand slam at Augusta, with that quite brilliant wedge to the 18th green to conquer Justin Rose in the play-off, and then made another massive contribution to a Ryder Cup victory in New York, the 36-year-old Northern Irishman has finally received the recognition he has long deserved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose if I don\u2019t win it this time, I never will,\u201d he remarked last month, having lost during that period when he was winning his first four majors to Mark Cavendish in 2011, Bradley Wiggins in 2012 and Lewis Hamilton in 2014. <\/p>\n

\"BBC<\/p>\n

McIlroy with his Ryder Cup-winning team-mate Tommy Fleetwood \u2014 Europe\u2019s golfers took the team of the year award<\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

On this occasion, however, a British Formula One world champion did not secure enough votes to deny McIlroy, who flew all the way from Jupiter (Florida, obviously) overnight to be here in Salford after playing in the Golf Channel Games on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

He lost that particular nearest-the-pin competition by an inch to Scottie Scheffler but this, presumably, was nothing like as close, with McIlroy securing public approval after the BBC had introduced a new voting format to create an extra level of suspense. There was a brief pause on voting when six names were reduced to a top three, before the lines were then reopened for the concluding 32 minutes of the show. <\/p>\n

McIlroy\u2019s achievements speak for themselves. He became only the sixth golfer in history to win all four men\u2019s majors, following that in September by shutting out the noise of a hostile American crowd at Bethpage to claim three-and-a-half points in Europe\u2019s first victory on US soil since 2012. But this award is also about personality and McIlroy\u2019s very public opposition to LIV Golf should also be celebrated.<\/p>\n

The shortlist for this edition of Spoty highlighted what a successful year it has been for British sport, but the programme started with the Helen Rollason Award and a presentation that rather put the sacrifice and toil of elite professional sport into perspective. <\/p>\n

The recipients on this occasion were David Stancombe and Sergio Aguiar, the fathers of Elsie and Alice, two of the three little girls brutally murdered while attending a dance class in Southport in July last year. Here were two men who ran this year\u2019s London Marathon, who were rightly honoured for their extraordinary spirit and courage. \u201cI\u2019m just a dad keeping a promise to a little girl,\u201d said Mr Stancombe. Rarely has there been a more poignant moment in the history of Spoty. <\/p>\n

The programme moved slightly awkwardly to a television interview with Lando Norris, who was unable to be here after securing his first F1 world title in Abu Dhabi 11 days ago. It may not have helped his cause with the voting public, even if there were people in the crowd wearing crash helmets. <\/p>\n

McIlroy was next, dressed in a black tie and accompanied by his Cranberries signature tune as he appeared on stage. He did well to acknowledge the victims of Southport, making the point that he too is the \u201cfather of a little girl\u201d. McIlroy talked about Augusta in the context of his previous struggles. \u201cI didn\u2019t make it easy for myself,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you want something so much, the obstacle becomes yourself.\u201d But then he shifted the focus to those two dads. \u201cThey are heroes,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

There was something of a paternal theme to the evening. Thierry Henry, for many the finest player to have graced the Premier League, received the lifetime achievement award from his four children. The 48-year-old former Arsenal striker paid tribute to them, thanking them for saving him from his \u201ctraumas\u201d and giving him \u201cempathy\u201d. \u201cThis is your award, not mine,\u201d he told them. <\/p>\n

Luke Littler was another contender who was absent, and fair enough given his next appearance in the World Darts Championship is on Sunday. That said, he was only 22 miles away, practising in St Helens. <\/p>\n

\"BBC<\/p>\n

Kildunne finished runner-up after England\u2019s Rugby World Cup triumph<\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

The two Lionesses followed. Chloe Kelly first, then Hannah Hampton. There were tears from England\u2019s goalkeeper; a young woman who has somehow overcome an eye condition to become the best. Kelly also pulled at a few heart strings. \u201cThe European Championship was good but my win was finding happiness on the football pitch again,\u201d said England\u2019s serial matchwinner, reflecting on her difficult departure from Manchester City in January. <\/p>\n

Last but by no means least, it was Ellie Kildunne\u2019s opportunity to remind us of her brilliance on a rugby pitch as well as the fact that, while there is now a Barbie to mark her contribution to England\u2019s World Cup win, she was never one for playing with dollies. <\/p>\n

It got a laugh and it also charmed the public enough to secure her a place in the top three alongside McIlroy and Norris. <\/p>\n

If that seemed a little harsh on the Lionesses, their boss, Sarina Wiegman, did at least receive the coach of the year award, in her case for the second time. <\/p>\n

\"BBC<\/p>\n

Norris, who came third but was unable to attend the ceremony, speaks to host Alex Scott<\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

Mondo Duplantis was the world sports star of the year for his dominance in the pole vault, while the young sports personality of the year award went to another Lioness, Michelle Agyemang. <\/p>\n

For once, though, Spoty belonged to the golfers. First Mcllroy was joined by Tommy Fleetwood in accepting the team of the year award for the Ryder Cup stars. <\/p>\n

And then the big one. Henry revealed that Kildunne had finished runner-up before Keely Hodgkinson pulled the card from the golden envelope and revealed that McIlroy had indeed succeeded her as the nation\u2019s favourite. <\/p>\n

McIlroy delivered a superb speech, generously noting the success of the other finalists and their own \u201cdedication\u201d before thanking his parents and his wife, Erica, and daughter Poppy. \u201c2025 was a year when I made my dreams come true,\u201d he said. \u201cA year that dreams are made of.\u201d<\/p>\n

The awards in fullSports personality of the year
Rory McIlroy (golf)Young sports personality of the year
Michelle Agyemang (football)Team of the year
European Ryder Cup team (golf)Coach of the year
Sarina Wiegman (football)World sport star
Armand Duplantis (Sweden, pole vault)Lifetime achievement award
Thierry Henry (France, football)Helen Rollason award
Sergio Aguiar and David Stancombe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Not before time, a slightly tearful, but impressively gracious, Rory McIlroy has been crowned the BBC sports personality…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-357985","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}