Reflecting on his profitable yr, McIlroy remembers with explicit affection the reception he acquired on the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in July, the place he completed in a tie for seventh.

“I am going to always remember the reception I obtained at Portrush this yr, though I did not win The Open,” he mentioned.

“The assist I get from again house is completely unbelievable, so I might wish to say thanks to everybody in Northern Eire for supporting me and believing in me and being on this journey with me.

“It looks like everybody has watched me develop up, skilled the highs and lows with me.

“Residence’s house, it at all times might be, it is the place that cast me. I’m going house and it is at all times the place that I really feel probably the most comfy in.

“I do not get house as typically as I might like however I really feel that I convey Northern Eire with me wherever I’m going, however after I do get house there’s simply that sense of belonging that I do not get anyplace else.”

The judging panel for the award consisted of All-Eire Senior Soccer Championship winner Oisin McConville, four-time Paralympic champion Michael McKillop, Northern Eire ladies’s soccer file cap holder Julie Nelson, Eire hockey’s file cap holder Shirley McCay, BBC Sport NI govt editor Neil Brittain and BBC Sport NI reporter Thomas Kane.