Golf fans baffled after bookmakers confirm Rory McIlroy's latest odds for BBC SPOTY

Golf fans across Britain are scratching their heads after bookmakers have positioned Rory McIlroy behind England Women's footballer Chloe Kelly in the race for BBC Sports Personality of the Year — despite the Northern Irishman delivering one of the greatest seasons of his career.

McIlroy, 36, is currently 6/4 second favourite for the Salford ceremony, with Euro 2025 hero Kelly leading the market at 11/8. Formula 1 frontrunner Lando Norris follows at 7/2, while the rest of the field trails some distance behind.

BBC SPOTY Latest Odds

• Chloe Kelly — 11/8
• Rory McIlroy — 6/4
• Lando Norris — 7/2
• Luke Littler — 16/1
• Hannah Hampton — 33/1
• Others — 40/1+

The reaction online has been blunt: golf fans see this as a no-brainer. How can a man who has completed the career Grand Slam, won three PGA Tour titles and spearheaded Europe’s Ryder Cup victory not be favourite?

Yet there’s a reason for the bookmakers’ scepticism. Only two golfers have ever won SPOTY — Dai Rees in 1957 and Sir Nick Faldo in 1989. Two winners in 71 years. It’s a grim strike-rate that continues to haunt the sport.

Rees earned his award after leading Great Britain to a historic Ryder Cup win, their first since 1933. Faldo was recognised the year he claimed his maiden Masters title. Since then? Silence.

A season that should end the debate

If any golfer was ever going to break the trend, it’s this version of Rory McIlroy — a player who has been simply unstoppable in 2025.

His crowning achievement came in April at Augusta National, where he joined golf’s most sacred club: the modern-era career Grand Slam. Only Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods had previously done it. McIlroy became the first Brit to join them.

But he didn’t stop there.

He won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, dominated The Players Championship, won a second Irish Open once again at The K Club, and then marched into the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black and helped Luke Donald’s Europe silence the most hostile American crowd seen in decades.

Last week, he wrapped up a seventh Race to Dubai title — moving to within one of Colin Montgomerie’s all-time record.

By any sporting measure, it’s the résumé of a SPOTY winner.

A rocky past with BBC SPOTY 

And yet, McIlroy’s history with the award is complicated. He finished second to Lewis Hamilton in 2014 despite winning two majors. He was nominated again in 2023 after another stellar season. He didn’t attend either ceremony — a subtle message about golf’s ongoing struggle to earn mainstream recognition on the BBC.

In 2023, Tommy Fleetwood even had to stand up and represent him when his name flashed on screen.

This time, McIlroy is taking no chances.

Rory is going - and he knows what is at stake

"Yeah, the plan is to go," McIlroy told The Telegraph. 

"I have more chance of winning if I’m actually there, and I recognise that with the audience the show attracts it could only be a good thing for the game."

Then came the line that caught everyone’s attention:

"I suppose if I don’t win it this time, I never will."

It was said with a smile — but the truth behind it is hard to ignore.

Golf fans believe he’s done more than enough. Bookmakers remain cautious. The BBC’s relationship with golf remains frosty at best.

But if McIlroy turns up in December with the season he’s had behind him, this may finally be the year he breaks through.

If not? As Rory himself says — he may never get another shot.