Five-time major winner Rory McIlroy’s legacy in the annals of European golf was long ago secured. But a historic 2025 campaign put an exclamation point on the career of the one of the greatest golfers in history. Now the DP World Tour is introducing a new annual award in honor of McIlroy’s accomplishments.
McIlroy spoke at length about the new Rory McIlroy Award ahead of the 2025 DP World Tour Championship, explaining the award’s significance, its origin and why he can never win it.
What is the Rory McIlroy Award?
When McIlroy finally won his first green jacket at the 2025 Masters in April, he didn’t just complete a lifelong dream of winning at Augusta. He also became just the sixth golfer in history to complete the career Grand Slam — winning all four of golf’s major championships.
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But McIlroy is the very first European golfer to accomplish the rare feat. And it’s that fact that led to the new award.
Early Tuesday, the DP World Tour announced the creation of the Rory McIlroy Award “in honour of Europe’s first winner of the Career Grand Slam”.
Each year beginning in 2026, the award will be presented to the DP World Tour player who performs best in the major championships. That will be determined based on Race to Dubai points earned at the majors.
In a press release announcing the new award, McIlroy called the honor “humbling.”
“To have something named after you, that will be presented to future generations of players, is a huge honour and it is very humbling,” McIlroy wrote. “I’m incredibly proud to be the first European to achieve the Career Grand Slam. The Majors represent the pinnacle of our sport, and I hope my success can inspire other DP World Tour members to chase and achieve their own dreams for years to come.”
He continued: “I look forward to seeing who becomes the first recipient of this new award in 2026 and it will be another very proud moment for me personally to present the trophy to them.”
DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings explained why they believed the time was right to honor McIlroy, despite the fact he’s still in the prime of his career.
“Whilst Rory will no doubt go on to achieve many more great things during his career, as a Tour we wanted to commemorate his historic achievement this year of becoming the first European winner of the Career Grand Slam,” Kinnings wrote. “This new award will be a permanent legacy that we hope will inspire future generations of DP World Tour members aiming to follow in Rory’s footsteps on golf’s biggest stage.”
Origins of the McIlroy award (and why Rory can never win it)
After the award’s announcement, McIlroy joined reporters for his pre-tournament press conference at the DP World Tour Championship. And the new award was the first topic broached.
McIlroy revealed that he first heard about the award soon after his Masters win in April. When Kinnings approached him with the idea, McIlroy initially thought it was too early in his career to name an award after him.
“When Guy approached us about it after the Masters, my first inclination was it’s a bit soon, a bit early,” McIlroy explained. “And the more I thought about it, I’m not going to be around forever playing.”
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He continued: “So it will still be amazing to have my name, after my playing days, my name associated with this tour, and hopefully have an award named after me, that means something to future generations that they want to strive towards to achieve.”
There is one other crucial detail about the Rory McIlroy Award you should know: Rory McIlroy can’t win it.
On Tuesday, McIlroy admitted that while it “would be cool” to win his own award, he decided it was best if he wasn’t eligible.
“It would be cool but I am ineligible for it,” McIlroy revealed. “I thought it would be better if I wasn’t… I think it was a decision made by all of us. We thought it was best if I would be ineligible for it.”
According to the press release, the award will instead honor players “seeking to replicate [McIlroy’s] achievements in golf’s four biggest individual tournaments.”
With his new award out of the way, McIlroy now turns his focus to the task at hand. He’s the betting favorite at this week’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship, where he’s seeking his seventh Race to Dubai title.
