Despite historic successes in 2025, Rory McIlroy is absent from the New Year’s Honours List due to a pending HMRC tax review.
The Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy was considered a favorite for a knighthood by King Charles III alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, also from England. However, all three golfers were left out this year. In 2025, McIlroy completed his career Grand Slam by winning the Masters, becoming the first European to do so. At the 2025 Ryder Cup, the 36-year-old also shone with Team Europe, securing their first away victory since 2012 at Bethpage State Park near New York City.
Despite these achievements, McIlroy’s name did not appear among the 1,157 honorees on the New Year’s Honours List, which is first reviewed by the Cabinet Office and then by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC – the UK tax authority) before submission to the Prime Minister and monarch. According to a report by the British Telegraph, HMRC intervened in McIlroy’s case, similar to their involvement years ago in footballer David Beckham’s knighthood, who also had to wait several years.
Did Rory McIlroy Avoid Tax Deliberately?
Recently named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, McIlroy was reportedly involved in urban renewal projects in Liverpool, Birmingham, and Sheffield in 2013, which were considered legal tax relief schemes and initially approved by authorities. Later, HMRC determined these projects to be tax avoidance and is currently investigating whether they exploited the ‘Business Premises Renovation Allowance’ to deliberately avoid tax payments. However, so far there is no evidence that McIlroy intentionally evaded taxes.
Because HMRC has a say in knighthood decisions, such an investigation can lead to refusal of the honor. Neither McIlroy nor the UK government has commented on the matter to date.