Rory McIlroy deserving of SPOTY crown

22-year old World No.2 should beat the likes of Mo Farah and Mark Cavendish to the BBC award following a remarkable year for British golf

With the BBC Sports Personality of the Year to be announced on Thursday 22^nd December, the bookie’s favourite is Mark Cavendish, following his extraordinary performances in the Tour de France and becoming Britain's first male world road race champion since 1965. Despite this and the merits of all the nominated sportsmen, the award should go to Rory McIlroy.

It was completely unjust that the ten-man shortlist was literally ten men without any female representation. At the very least Andy Murray and Amir Khan will surely have more successful years to come when they reach the top of their sports, which would be in the form of Murray finally winning a Grand Slam and Khan not only winning back his now-relinquished light-welterweight world titles, but also stepping up to welterweight to defeat Floyd Mayweather. Keri-Anne Payne and Rebecca Adlington both had better 2011s and deserved recognition. Chrissie Wellington is a phenomenon, but would Alistair Brownlee then begin to have a similar case for inclusion?

Cavendish has taken British cycling to new levels. Source: Ride On

Nevertheless, the other eight candidates all warrant serious consideration. Andrew Strauss presided over an England Test side that humbled the Australians on their own turf in The Ashes for the first time in 24 years, before setting about the ruthless 4-0 dismantling of India, the previous occupiers of the world no.1 spot which now belongs to England. Alastair Cook was the undoubted star of the victory over the Australians, although if one was being overly cynical it could be suggested that he set about punishing a toothless Australia attack on flat pitches and was far less dominant against Sri Lanka and India. If you combined Cook’s runs with Strauss’s captaincy, you would have a strong case for a winner.

Cavendish has had an exceptional 2011, and is doing more than any other cyclist to make his sport appeal to the mainstream sporting public. Cycling has tended to disappear from view in non-Olympic years, but his performances in the Tour de France and world road race have captured the limelight. The only element that counts against him is the fact that he generally had to rely upon his selfless HTC teammates to ensure that he was in a position for success. It is often forgotten that cycling is far from an individual sport.

The athletes Mo Farah and Dai Greene are both World champions. Greene now holds titles at Commonwealth, European and World level, but few would rank him above Farah for his achievements, incredible as they are. Farah won the first long distance gold for a British male at a major global championship in an event long dominated by African competitors. This speaks for itself and puts him in strong contention for the award.

Farah's performances have been taken up a level in 2011. Source: Paul Foot

However, 2011 has been the year of British golf. Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood comprise the top three of the Official World Rankings, with Donald topping the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic after clinching the Race to Dubai last weekend, reflecting his consistency at the top of the game. Although Graeme McDowell got the ball rolling in 2010, McIlroy’s triumph at the U.S. Open and Darren Clarke’s fairytale victory at The Open at Royal St. George’s were truly momentous achievements. Some fantastic players never win one. Clarke’s maiden Major title and his emotional journey have unsurprisingly put him as the second favourite behind Cavendish for the crown.

Yet McIlroy has the edge for a number of reasons. His U.S. Open victory at the Congressional was by an astonishing 8 shots, breaking a host of scoring records in the process. Since 1931, only Tiger Woods has been a younger Major Champion, which is illustrious company. He has risen to no.2 in the World Rankings and is fast catching Luke Donald following breathtaking victories in Shanghai and Hong Kong. A late season charge for the Race to Dubai came up short, but a suspected case of dengue fever cannot have helped. All this at the age of 22.

McIlroy's 2011 included a U.S. Open victory and a rise to World No.2. Source: edbalaun

Beyond the incredible performances, he achieved all this despite his meltdown during the final round of the Masters in April. Standing on the 10^th tee of the final round, he was one shot clear and there was all to play for, but a woeful drive and triple-bogey seven marked the beginning of a nightmare close to his round that was agonising to watch. For some players the recovery from experiences such as that can be long and painful. Instead McIlroy gave an incredibly mature and sensible press conference and set about winning his very next Major. It says a lot about his personality and marks McIlroy out as a true champion.

Throw in a high-profile relationship with Caroline Wozniacki and it has been quite a 2011 for Rory McIlroy. There is no doubt that he would be a worthy winner of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for his own outstanding achievements, the manner in which he has bounced back from a nightmare beginning to 2011 and as an ambassador for the supreme health of British golf. The outlook for 2012, where he should play a prominent role in the defence of the Ryder Cup in Chicago and challenge for more Major titles, looks promising.

1^st Rory McIlroy

2^nd Mo Farah

3^rd Mark Cavendish