There is a new award on the DP World Tour. And here is the catch…Rory McIlroy, the European No. 1 for the past three years, will never be able to win it!
On Tuesday, on the sidelines of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship being played at the Earth course of Jumeirah Golf Estates, the DP World Tour announced the Rory McIlroy Award.
It’s a new annual trophy named in honour of Europe’s first winner of the Career Grand Slam, when McIlroy won the Masters earlier this year in April. The award will be presented to the Tour member who performs the best across all four Major Championships in a season, starting 2026.
The award has been instituted in the name of McIlroy to commemorate his historic achievement of becoming just the sixth golfer in the history of the men’s professional game, and the first European, to win all four Major Championships. Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are the only other players to have achieved the same feat.
Prior to the 2025 Masters, where McIlroy defeated England’s Justin Rose in a play-off to add the Green Jacket to the US Open he won in 2011, his two US PGA Championships in 2012 and 2014 and the 2014 Open Championship.
The 36-year-old from Northern Ireland is seeking to win a seventh Race to Dubai title this week.
As this new award is named in his honour, McIlroy will be ineligible to win the trophy himself. Instead, it will be awarded to members seeking to replicate his achievements in golf’s four biggest individual tournaments.
New DP World Tour trophy honours McIlroy
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. It will be another very proud moment for me personally to present the trophy to the first recipient of this new award in 2026.”
Guy Kinnings, the DP World Tour Chief Executive, added: “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.”
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