Coming in 2026: The Rory McIlroy Award

Even before his Career Grand Slam clinching win in April, Rory McIlroy was already the caliber of player to celebrate and commemorate with an award. But that Masters win sped up the process a bit.

On Tuesday, the DP World Tour announced the creation of the Rory McIlroy Award, an honor given to the member who earns the most Race to Dubai points across the four major championships. It will be presented for the first time in 2026.

“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.

"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.”

This is the fifth DP World Tour award named after one of the circuit’s legends, joining Seve Ballesteros, Harry Vardon, Sir Henry Cotton, and John Jacobs.

“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,” Guy Kinnings, the CEO of the DP World Tour, said. “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.”

And before you ask, no, McIlroy can’t win the award himself—it’s a shame, that presentation ceremony would’ve been hilarious.

As a proud member of the McIlroy Fan Club, this is pretty damn cool. He’s got a lot of good years left in him and will no doubt add more titles to his resume, but when a player achieves something only five have done before him, that’s worthy of an award in his honor.