Rory McIlroy has chance to end unwanted 34-year streak after Ryder Cup win

12 December 2023 , 13:41

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Rory McIlroy won the Race to Dubai for a fifth time during an impressive 2023 season (Image: AP)

Rory McIlroy has been nominated for the 2023 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award and the Northern Irishman will look to become the first golfer since 1989 to win the honour.

McIlroy was included on a shortlist of six contenders, including cricketer Stuart Broad, jockey Frankie Dettori and wheelchair tennis star Alfie Hewett. Athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson and England goalkeeper Mary Earps - the favourite to claim the award - were also nominated.

While his agonising wait for another major triumph continued, McIlroy enjoyed a stellar 2023. He avenged the brutal record defeat at the 2021 Ryder Cup with a talismanic perfromance in Rome as Europe regained the iconic trophy.

McIlroy finished as the top points scorer on either side with four out of five matches won. Europe's victory also gave the 34-year-old his fifth Ryder Cup triumph to cap off an impressive year for McIlroy.

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His performances at the Marco Simone Golf Club were an extension of the form he displayed throughout 2023. On the PGA Tour, McIlroy tallied 13 top-10 finishes in 18 events - including at three of the four majors - and won the Scottish Open.

He also claimed the Race to Dubai title for the fifth time and sat atop the world rankings. McIlroy has also been an outspoken figure in the very public battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf which has divided the sport.

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Rory McIlroy helped Europe reclaim the Ryder Cup (AP)

Sir Nick Faldo is the last golfer to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year accolade in 1989, and many fans of the sport tend to dismiss the award due to the lack of recognition. Last year, Matt Fitzpatrick was left off the shortlist despite winning the US Open in epic circumstances at the Country Club of Brookline.

Despite the Sheffield star joining the legendary Jack Nickalus as the only other player to win the US Amateur Championship and the US Open at the same venue, Fitzpatrick’s achievement was dismissed. According to The Telegraph, Fitzpatrick politely declined the call from organisers to attend the awards before the shortlist was named on account of the lack of acknowledgement golfers tend to receive at the event.

Back in 2014, McIlroy was outvoted by F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton despite winning successive majors at The Open and the PGA Championship. McIlroy's second-place finish left fans wondering what a golfer might have to achieve to end the sport's wait of over three decades for a win of the big award, and the Northern Irishman will hope he can get over the line this month.

Andrew Gamble