Rory McIlroy receives the green jacket from Scottie Scheffler after winning the 2025 Masters at Augusta. Photo / Getty Images
Rory McIlroy has been snubbed in Great Britain’s New Year Honours list after an intervention by tax officials, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
The newly crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year was the most surprising omission from the list after a year in which he made history by becoming the first European to win all four of golf’s majors.
In a remarkable rejection of 2025’s biggest sporting heroes, England footballers Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton were also missed off the honours list, as was golfer Luke Donald, who captained Europe to a famous Ryder Cup victory in the United States.
Among the famous sporting names recognised by the King are ice-dancers Torvill and Dean, who become Dame Jayne and Sir Christopher; and England manager Sarina Wiegman, who was awarded an honorary damehood for becoming the first manager of either sex to win two major tournaments, while captain Leah Williamson’s OBE was upgraded to a CBE.
They are among 1157 people receiving honours, the oldest of whom is a 102-year-old judo instructor from Northumberland.
McIlroy, who was part of Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup team as well as winning the Masters, which completed his career grand slam, is the first Sports Personality winner in almost a decade to miss out on an honour in the same year.
A Whitehall source compared his snub to that of Sir David Beckham, whose knighthood was blocked for years when a “red flag” was placed on his nomination following an investment in what HM Revenue & Customs later deemed to be a tax avoidance scheme. He was finally knighted earlier this year in the King’s Birthday Honours.
The nature of the dispute behind McIlroy’s honours omission is unclear, but earlier in his career, he was among thousands of wealthy individuals who put money into another scheme that ended up being challenged by the taxman.
In 2015, HMRC launched an investigation into whether investments made by McIlroy and others had unfairly avoided tax by exploiting the Business Premises Renovation Allowance programme, under which investors could claim up to 100% tax relief on expenditure. There was nothing illegal about the schemes, but HMRC warned at the time that it had the power to demand payments for any tax it deemed to have been unfairly avoided.
McIlroy was one of 183 people who had invested in a scheme to regenerate parts of Liverpool, Birmingham and Sheffield. The golfer said in 2013 that he was happy with his involvement in a Birmingham “regeneration project”. There is no suggestion he has ever deliberately sought to dodge his tax obligations.
A spokesman for McIlroy, who was made an MBE after winning his first major in 2011, did not respond to requests for comment on his honours upgrade snub. The Cabinet Office and HMRC both declined to comment.
Honours are nominated by members of the public then scrutinised by committees overseen by the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office consults HMRC, which checks whether there are any reasons not to honour an individual and raises “red flags” towards any final decision. The final list is then sent to the Prime Minister for approval before they are formally awarded by the King.
British PM Keir Starmer is likely to face criticism over the omission of Kelly and Hampton – who were the stars of England’s European Championship triumph – after he had suggested that all of the victorious Lionesses would be honoured for their achievements.
The Prime Minister had said that the team would be recognised “and it will be worthy of their historic success”, but there was nothing for Kelly, who came off the bench to score the penalty shoot-out winner in the final, or for goalkeeper Hampton, who was named player of the match after saving two penalties in the shoot-out.
Williamson’s teammates Alex Greenwood, Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone and Keira Walsh also all received MBEs, making Kelly and Hampton’s snubs all the more baffling.
Toone said: “This recognition is also incredibly personal because I want to dedicate it to my dad, who I lost to prostate cancer last year. He was my biggest supporter, from the very first kick of a ball, and I know he’d be so proud.”
The Telegraph understands that Kelly and Hampton are likely to be honoured in a future list, as part of a policy to move away from blanket honours for entire teams in single honours lists.
Donald, who became an MBE in 2012 and is the first man to captain Europe to two Ryder Cup triumphs for almost 40 years, is also likely to be recognised at a later date.
Honours were restricted towards celebrating outstanding individual contributions and the wider context of an entire career after every member of the triumphant 2003 Rugby World Cup and 2005 Ashes teams received at least MBEs. There was also criticism following the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, after which several athletes were honoured while still competing.
That crackdown resulted in fewer sporting honours being handed out in the 2010s, and only four members of England’s 2019 Cricket World Cup-winning team received honours. England’s World Cup-winning team from 1966 were only honoured in full following a campaign in 1999 to acknowledge their achievement.
Even then, only the starting XI who beat West Germany in the final were recognised, with Jimmy Greaves, the most illustrious player among the 1966 squad, overlooked.
Formula One world champion Lando Norris was not on this year’s list, although the 26-year-old’s triumph may have come too late for inclusion and he could be recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours next year.
Olympic men’s sport climbing gold medallist Toby Roberts, who at 20 is the youngest name on the list, is belatedly awarded an MBE 12 months after being left off the post-Olympics New Year Honours by Labour in 2024.
Six members of England’s Women’s Rugby World Cup-winning stars were also honoured, with captain Zoe Aldcroft and predecessor Marlie Packer both made OBEs, while team talisman Ellie Kildunne received an MBE, with teammates Megan Jones and Sadia Kabeya.
Aldcroft said: “The recognition isn’t mine alone. This year I have felt nothing but love and support from so many people and I am extremely grateful. My family’s belief in me on this journey has been unrivalled, and I am also fortunate to have been surrounded by an unbelievable group of players and staff who have given everything to the Red Roses.”
However, there was further controversy after head coach John Mitchell was awarded an OBE, but there was no retrospective award for Gary Street, who led the Red Roses to their previous triumph in 2014 and who last year suffered a massive stroke.
Kevin Sinfield was also overlooked for a knighthood two years after being made a CBE alongside the late Rob Burrow for the pair’s motor neurone disease fundraising.
There were CBEs for Daniel Levy, who stood down as Tottenham Hotspur chairman after 25 years in September, and his one-time Premier League counterpart Gary Hoffman.
Match of the Day host Gabby Logan was upgraded from an MBE to an OBE for her services to sports broadcasting and charity, as was BBC athletics colleague Paula Radcliffe for services to sport.
Former ITV football commentator Clive Tyldesley also got an OBE, as did one-time interim England and Wales Cricket Board chair Barry O’Brien, former Marylebone Cricket Club chief executive Derek Brewer and Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle.
The BBC’s Isa Guha, Wimbledon tennis umpire James Keothavong, British Rowing performance director Louise Kingsley, and rugby league referee Tara Jones, who last year became the first woman to officiate a senior men’s fixture, all received MBEs.