The BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards will take place on Thursday, the 18th of December, getting started at 7 pm. MediaCity in Salford is the venue, and there are six contenders for the main, eponymous prize.
Two of England’s successful Lionesses team make the cut, with footballers Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton picked out. It was a fine year for women’s team sport in the UK, and Red Rose icon Ellie Kildunne is also nominated. The Lionesses and England’s rugby union world champions will also battle it out for the Team of the Year prize, although the European Ryder Cup team could well edge that one.
Luke Littler, Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris and Rory McIlroy complete the sextet. Unsurprisingly enough, it is the last of those sports stars who is our focus here. So can Rory claim the Sports Personality of the Year award for the first time?
Photo credit: Potyike via flickr.
The Case for Rory
Rory has had a stupendous season, and there is an almost undeniable case to be made that he is the finest golfer the UK has ever produced. Others have more majors than the Northern Irish megastar but none has spent longer at world number one than he has. Additionally, he has won far more PGA events than any other player from these islands, albeit the golfing landscape has been different in his era than it was in the days of Nick Faldo and others.
But the main reason for arguing his case, both for the UK-golfing GOAT, and for this year’s SPOTY, is his status as a career Grand Slam champion. In April 2025, Rory finally won the US Masters, after several near misses and much heartbreak. That put him into a select group of just six players to have won all four majors, alongside legends such as Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
In terms of his SPOTY credentials, he also won The Players for a second time (only eight golfers have multiple wins at TPC Sawgrass), as well as the Irish Open in spectacular fashion. In addition to that, he played a key role in Europe’s success in the Ryder Cup, in the USA, and was a leader on and off the course in both that and the ongoing issues with the LIV Tour. Throw in wins at the AT&T Pebble Beach and overall success in the Race to Dubai for a fourth season in a row, and it was quite the year for McIlroy.
Has he Won it Before?
Another reason why many would suggest Rory to be a worthy winner of the BBC accolade is that he has not yet won it. In fact, only once has he made the top three, coming second to Lewis Hamilton in 2014, the year when he was probably most dominant having won two majors.
It would seem strange if a player of his stature, standing, success and popularity, in what is a very popular UK sport, was never to win SPOTY. And if not now, then when? McIlroy has, we all hope, many good years left ahead of him. He is 36 years old, and there is plenty of time for him to be given SPOTY almost as a lifetime achievement honour, as has happened to other stars.
However, in many ways, it would be more fitting for him to win it based on a brilliant season. This year will take some topping in that regard. But is Rory likely to win?
What do the Odds Say?
We have seen the occasional upset and unexpected victor when it comes to SPOTY over the years. However, in general, especially more recently, due to changes in how the winner is decided, the odds offered by bookies have usually been a very good guide to who will win.
All of which is rather good news for Rory and his legions of fans, because the US Masters champion is the clear favourite at odds of just 1/2. F1 star Lando Norris is next at 10/3, with Chloe Kelly, who starred at Euro 2025 and scored the penalty that won the trophy, next at 4/1.
Luke Littler is a distant fourth favourite at 25/1, but the three stars above the darts ace in the betting seem almost certain to occupy top spots. That said, Littler could get a boost due to the fact that the darts world championships are taking place right now.
Ultimately, we strongly suspect that McIlroy will be honoured and we also feel it is only right. That said, over the whole history of SPOTY, F1 has been strongly favoured in comparison to golf. Only athletics stars have won the main prize at SPOTY more times than Formula One drivers. Moreover, Norris’s accomplishments are more recent in the memory than Rory’s heroics, so we can’t entirely rule out an upset.