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 bought at Portrush this yr, despite the fact that I did not win The Open,” he mentioned.
“The help I get from again house is completely unbelievable, so I would prefer to say thanks to everybody in Northern Eire for supporting me and believing in me and being on this journey with me.
“It seems like everybody has watched me develop up, skilled the highs and lows with me.
“Residence’s house, it at all times will probably be, it is the place that solid 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 would like however I really feel that I deliver 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 document cap holder Julie Nelson, Eire hockey’s document cap holder Shirley McCay, BBC Sport NI govt editor Neil Brittain and BBC Sport NI reporter Thomas Kane.
