Despite historic achievements in 2025, Rory McIlroy is absent from the New Year’s Honours List. A tax review by HMRC is believed to be blocking his knighthood.
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 omitted this year. In 2025, McIlroy completed his career Grand Slam with a Masters victory, becoming the first European to do so. He also shone at the 2025 Ryder Cup, securing Europe’s first away win 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 reviewed first by the Cabinet Office and then by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) before being submitted to the Prime Minister and the Monarch. According to a report by The Telegraph, HMRC’s intervention is believed to be the cause, similar to the delay experienced by footballer David Beckham in receiving his knighthood, which took several years.
Did Rory McIlroy Intentionally Avoid Taxes?
McIlroy, recently named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, was involved in urban renewal projects in Liverpool, Birmingham, and Sheffield in 2013, which at the time were considered legal tax relief initiatives. Later, HMRC classified these projects as tax avoidance and is currently investigating whether they exploited the “Business Premises Renovation Allowance” to deliberately evade taxes. However, there is currently no evidence that McIlroy intentionally sought to avoid tax payments.
Since HMRC has a role in the knighthood approval process, such an investigation can lead to rejection of the honor. Neither the Northern Irish player nor the British government has commented on the situation so far.