Reflecting on his successful year, McIlroy remembers with particular affection the reception he received at the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in July, where he finished in a tie for seventh.
“I’ll never forget the reception I got at Portrush this year, even though I didn’t win The Open,” he said.
“The support I get from back home is absolutely incredible, so I’d like to say thank you to everyone in Northern Ireland for supporting me and believing in me and being on this journey with me.
“It feels like everyone has watched me grow up, experienced the highs and lows with me.
“Home’s home, it always will be, it’s the place that forged me. I go home and it’s always the place that I feel the most comfortable in.
“I don’t get home as often as I’d like but I feel that I bring Northern Ireland with me wherever I go, but when I do get home there’s just that sense of belonging that I don’t get anywhere else.”
The judging panel for the award consisted of All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winner Oisin McConville, four-time Paralympic champion Michael McKillop, Northern Ireland women’s football record cap holder Julie Nelson, Ireland hockey’s record cap holder Shirley McCay, BBC Sport NI executive editor Neil Brittain and BBC Sport NI reporter Thomas Kane.