Winning Ryder Cup captain urges public to vote for Rory McIlroy in SPOTY
Bernard Gallacher set to cast vote for first time in bid to see ‘generational talent’ rewarded
Ryder Cup-winning captain Bernard Gallacher is set to cast a vote for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award for the first time in his hope that Rory McIlroy is rewarded for creating history as the first European to complete a career grand slam.
In Thursday night’s award ceremony in Manchester, McIlroy is up against newly-crowned F1 champion Lando Norris, darts star Luke Littler, England footballers Hannah Hampton and Chloe Kelly and England rugby union player Ellie Kildunne for the main accolade.
It’s been 36 years since a golfer - Nick Faldo - last picked up the prize, but, encouragingly, McIlroy, who joined Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in completing the full set of majors when he won The Masters in April, is the odds-on favourite with the bookmakers.
Speaking in Glasgow, where he was the guest of honour along with his nephew, Stephen, at the annual PGA in Scotland Lunch, Bernard, 76, said: “I’ve never voted, but I will this week. My wife, Lesley, said, ‘we must vote for Rory’. As he said, if he doesn’t win this time, he never will.”
In addition to claiming his Green Jacket this year, McIlroy also won at Pebble Beach, one of the game’s cathedral venues in the AT&T Pro-Am, claimed The Players’ Championship for a second time, eagled the last to force a play-off as he triumphed in the Amgen Irish Open and helped Europe retain the Ryder Cup in a hostile atmosphere in New York. In winning the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai title for a seventh time, he moved with one of Colin Montgomerie’s record haul.
Not recognising grand slam would be ‘bitterly disappointing’
“He’s a generational talent,” added Bernard, a member of the PGA since 1970 and recent captain of the organisation. “It would be very, very disappointing if the public didn’t vote for him. It would show their indifference to what it means to win the career grand slam. To go into that Masters knowing you need to win it to win the career grand slam was huge pressure. And he pulled it off.
“I said to Rory I was so pleased for him. When you knock on the door so many times, one day it will open. And it did. I would be bitterly disappointed if the public didn’t get behind him. You have to vote, though.”
Stephen, who was on a Ryder Cup-winning team with McIlroy at Gleneagles in 2014, is also hoping the golfing public do their bit. “He should win it and I hope he does,” he said of McIlroy’s hopes of becoming just the third golfer to land the prize after Faldo and Dai Rees, winner of the fourth edition in 1957. “He should win it because his feat this year is unbelievable. A modern-day grand slam is fantastic.”
McIlroy’s biggest hurdle could be the lack of coverage golf now gets on the BBC. “It is the perfect example of when you take a sport off terrestrial TV, it just gets forgotten,” added Stephen. “We used to have hours and hours of golf that you could watch for nothing.
“I think golf has suffered from not being on terrestrial TV as much as that’s where we grew up watching The Open, the PGA at Wentworth, World Match Play etc and that meant golfers back then were a bit more well known among normal people. Unless he wins another grand slam, which is unlikely, it probably is now or never this year.”
At an event when the pair delivered what was ‘Gallacher gold’ in a chat with host Iain Carter, the duo shared some great stories about the Ryder Cup, with Bernard playing in the event eight times and being a captain on three occasions, including a win at Oak Hill in 1995, with Stephen then following in his footsteps as a player on Scottish soil.
Both believe that Luke Donald, who led Europe to victory in Rome in 2023 before emulating Tony Jacklin as the only captain to win home and away as he added a 15-13 victory over the Americans at Bethpage Black in New York in September, should stay on for a third stint in the centenary edition at Adare Manor in 2027.
“It’s a complicated one, but I hope he does it,” observed Bernard, who was inspired to become a Ryder Cup player by Eric Brown at Bathgate. “We all thought the Ryder Cup captains were assured for many years. You had Henrik Stenson, you could see Lee Westwood being captain, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia. The arrival of LIV, of course, meant that was it.
Why Luke Donald’s won’t ‘harm his legacy’
“I wouldn’t say we’re short of captains. But Luke has proved his worth. I don’t think he should worry about a third term harming his legacy. He’s done a great job, he’s the right guy. Justin Rose is a candidate, but he wants to play. Luke’s full-time playing days are over it seems - I’d implore him to take it.”
Stephen, 51, had dealings with Donald as he captained Europe in the last two Junior Ryder Cups, leading Europe to a convincing win in Rome before scaring the Americans on the last day on Long Island this year.
“I hope so,” he said in reply to being asked if he felt the world No 1 would be holding the reins again in County Limerick. “I hope they don’t go down the route of just giving somebody it because they deserve it. I think you’ve got to pick the right man for the job, so I think you offer it to him and it’s his to refuse.
“The players like him, the fans like him, the results have been brilliant. So give him it until he doesn’t want it. It’s been a twist of fate with LIV Golf starting up and Stenson getting it and then having to give it up. Would Luke maybe have got the job over Lee Westwood at some point? Maybe not. But, I’ll tell you what, he’s taken up the mantle and he is absolutely flying as captain. Ask Bob [MacIntyre], ask all the boys. They really like playing under him and that’s the key.”
As for the US captain in 2027, Stephen added: “I’d love it to be Tiger as he’s pally with JP McManus (the owner of Adare Manor). I think he’d get an amazing welcome in Ireland. For the 100th anniversary of the Ryder Cup, I think it would be fitting to have Tiger up against Luke Donald after his back-to-back wins. It would be some narrative.”
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