[Photo: David Cannon]
To commemorate Rory McIlroy’s historic career Grand Slam, the DP World Tour is launching a new award in the Northern Irishman’s name that will focus on the majors.
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The Old World circuit announced overnight the creation of the Rory McIlroy Award, which will be given to the best-performing DP World Tour player across the four major championships. Specifically, the tour member who earns the most Race to Dubai points at the Masters, PGA Championship, US Open and the Open Championship will receive the honour.
McIlroy, 36, defeated his Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose in a playoff to claim Augusta National’s coveted green jacket in April. The Masters win was the last piece of his Grand-Slam puzzle after McIlroy triumphed at the 2011 US Open, 2012 and 2014 PGA Championships and the 2014 Open at Hoylake.
The inspiration for McIlroy Award, which will be handed out for the first time in 2026, was the fact that McIlroy, while becoming the sixth golfer to win all four majors, was the first European golfer to achieve the career Grand Slam. Four of the slam winners are Americans, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, while Gary Player is South African.
“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 said. “It certainly means a lot to me because the DP World Tour was where I started my career. I’ve always loved playing on it and, of course, representing Europe and the tour in the Ryder Cup.”
McIlroy will be ineligible to win the award, which was announced at this week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, where the Ulsterman leads the Race to Dubai standings and is chasing a seventh title.
Tour officials said the trophy will be made in McIlroy’s image and soon be unveiled by the DP World Tour.
The McIlroy Award becomes the European Tour Group’s fifth prestigious annual trophy after Seve Ballesteros (member-voted Players’ Player of the Year), Harry Vardon (Race to Dubai winner), Sir Henry Cotton (Rookie of the Year) and John Jacobs (Legends Tour Order of Merit winner).
DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings first mentioned to Rory McIlroy the possibility of naming an award after him shortly after McIlroy’s Masters win in April. [Photo: Ross Kinnaird]
During a press conference, McIlroy said that DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings approached him shortly after the Masters win about creating the award. McIlroy said there was a little hesitancy – “My first inclination was it’s a bit soon” – but that he knows that he’s “not going to be around forever playing”.
Indeed, Kinnings confirmed the European circuit wanted to commemorate McIlroy’s achievement in the same year he became a Grand Slam champion.
“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 said in a press release. “Rory has already made such an immense contribution to our tour and to golf in general across his career to date. He is also a wonderful ambassador for global golf, so we are incredibly pleased to unveil the Rory McIlroy Award in his honour.”
