DP World Tour Creates 'Rory McIlroy Award' In Honor Of Europe's First Career Grand Slam Winner

The DP World Tour has announced the creation of the 'Rory McIlroy Award' which will be handed out annually to the best-performing individual member at the four Major championships.

The prize - which was designed to honor Europe's first-ever Career Grand Slam champion - cannot be won by McIlroy himself and will be presented for the first time after The Open Championship in 2026.

Rather than being decided on by a panel of judges, the Rory McIlroy Award will be decided by whoever accumulates the highest number of Race To Dubai points at The Masters, the PGA Championship, the US Open and The Open.

In April, McIlroy won The Masters to secure a fifth Major and add his name into the history books alongside five non-European players - Tiger Woods, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan.

His incredible achievement has seen McIlroy become just the fifth player to have a European Tour award named in his honor, following on from Seve Ballesteros, Harry Vardon, Sir Henry Cotton and John Jacobs.

The Seve Ballesteros Award is presented annually to the member voted Players’ Player of the Year and the Harry Vardon Trophy to the Race to Dubai winner. Meanwhile, the Rookie of the Year receives the Sir Henry Cotton Award.

The John Jacobs Trophy, named after the European Tour’s Founding Father, is presented to the winner of the Legends Tour Order of Merit.

Reacting to his award's unveiling in the build-up to the DP World Tour Championship, McIlroy said: "To have something named after you, that will be presented to future generations of players, is a huge honour and it is very humbling.

“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.

“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.

“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.”

Meanwhile, the DP World Tour's chief executive Guy Kinnings said: "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.

“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.

“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.”

McIlroy is set to make more history this week as he aims to close out a seventh Race To Dubai title, taking him past Seve Ballesteros and closing to within one of all-time leader, Colin Montgomerie.