Rory McIlroy Nominated For BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Following Ryder Cup Heroics

Rory McIlroy has been named on the BBC Sports Personality of the Year shortlist for 2023 following another outstanding year of golf.

Both personally and as part of a team, the 34-year-old has enjoyed a vast amount of success throughout the year and remains one of the leading players in the game as a result of his incredible consistency.

The Northern Irishman's proudest achievement of 2023 was helping Team Europe win the Ryder Cup in style at Marco Simone, though - two years on from ending a chastening defeat to Team USA at Whistling Straits in tears. 

McIlroy was the leading point scorer in Italy and moved past the controversial 'hat-gate' incident involving Jim 'Bones' Mackay to defeat Sam Burns 3&1.

Speaking after the presentation ceremony in Rome, McIlroy said: "It means an awful lot [to win]. I was so disappointed after Whistling Straits, we all were, and we wanted to come here to Rome this year and redeem ourselves a bit.

"We've got some fresh blood on the team that I think has worked really, really well. I just knew that I needed to put in a better performance for my team-mates this week and thankfully I was able to do that."

After lifting his first trophy of 2023 at the Dubai Desert Classic by holding off Patrick Reed, McIlroy produced some incredible shots down the stretch to win the Scottish Open ahead of Robert MacIntyre in an epic battle at Renaissance Club in July.

Among his other notable achievements, the 34-year-old landed his fifth Race To Dubai title in November. And on the PGA Tour, he finished in the top-10 at 13 of his 18 starts, including three of the four Major championships.

Elsewhere, during another frenzied year, McIlroy has made his feelings clear on the golf ball rollback, launched and then was forced to delay the tech-forward TGL, and stepped down from the PGA Tour Policy Board months after stating he would rather retire than play in the LIV Golf League.

The Northern Irishman has never won the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year award, having finished second behind Lewis Hamilton in 2014 despite clinching two Major titles, a WGC crown, the BMW PGA Championship, and one of five Ryder Cups.

McIlroy faces tough competition to do so this year, too, with a handful of other global stars who have themselves enjoyed outstanding seasons in the running. 

One of England cricket's greatest ever bowlers - Stuart Broad, horse-racing jockey legend - Frankie Dettori, heroic England goalkeeper - Mary Earps, wheelchair tennis world number one - Alfie Hewett, and athletics behemoth - Katarina Johnson-Thompson made the shortlist alongside McIlroy.

Public voting for the 2023 winner will take place during the live show on Tuesday, December 19 at MediaCity in Salford, near Manchester.