Rory McIlroy is the favourite to win the Sports Personality of the Year Award at this year’s BBC ceremony.
Hannah Hampton, Lando Norris, Ellie Kildunne, Luke Littler
The Ryder Cup winner — who has been nominated multiple times but has never claimed the SPOTY prize — has been given odds of 8/13 by Paddy Power, putting him ahead of Lionesses star Chloe Kelly (10/3) and Formula One’s Lando Norris (7/2).
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award is one of the most high-profile honours in British sport, with the winner decided by a public vote during the live televised ceremony. Past recipients have often reflected not only sporting excellence but standout moments that captured the public imagination, with golfers historically performing well when major championship success aligns with wider international impact.
Lionesses goalkeeper Hannah Hampton is in the mix at 20/1, while Luke Littler is 25/1 after his World Darts Championship success aged 17.
England Women’s Rugby star Ellie Kildunne is currently outside at 66/1 after her World Cup win. Public voting opens during the BBC’s broadcast on 18 December from Salford.
This year has been one of the most remarkable of McIlroy’s career. In April he finally won The Masters Tournament at Augusta National, completing the career Grand Slam — a feat achieved by only a handful of male golfers in history — and securing his first major title in over a decade.
McIlroy also enjoyed success across the golfing calendar in 2025, with victories including The Players Championship, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and the Amgen Irish Open, and he played a key role in Team Europe’s Ryder Cup victory in the United States. Later in the season, he secured the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai title for a seventh time, underlining his consistency at the top of the sport.
Despite these milestones, McIlroy has yet to win SPOTY, making his position as the bookmaker favourite all the more compelling as he seeks to convert a landmark year into one of British sport’s top honours. McIlroy, who hails from Holywood, Co Down, has been nominated for SPOTY on several previous occasions, including after major victories earlier in his career, but has never topped the public vote. His sustained presence at the elite level of golf, combined with his outspoken role in shaping the modern game and his leadership within European golf, has kept him in the public eye beyond results alone, factors that could weigh heavily with voters as he bids to finally secure the award.
