Rory McIlroy snubbed Spoty despite being in North West 48 hours earlier

Rory McIlroy was conspicuous by his absence in Salford for the BBC’s Spoty ceremony – David Davies/PA Wire

Rory McIlroy skipped the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony for a family event despite being nominated for its main award.

Telegraph Sport has been told that McIlroy missed the ceremony in Salford to attend the event in Florida, where he moved five years ago, having played no part in the Corporation’s flagship sports programme or a film put together on his candidacy.

That was despite the Northern Irishman, who helped lead Europe to Ryder Cup glory in September, being in the North West barely 48 hours earlier to watch Liverpool and Manchester United’s goalless Premier League draw at Anfield.

Ryder Cup team-mates Tyrrell Hatton, a diehard Liverpool supporter, and Manchester United fan Rory McIlroy were at Anfield on Sunday and spoke to the Sky Sports team – Peter Byrne/PA Wire

McIlroy was the only one of the six nominees not to turn up to Tuesday’s awards or appear via live video link, with the programme forced to resort to using an eight-second clip of him speaking shortly before the Ryder Cup in its package on his candidacy.

No reason was given for his absence during the ceremony itself, unlike that of fellow contender Frankie Dettori, who apologised for not attending in person.

The jockey was on a four-day break with his family in France ahead of emigrating to the United States having only recently returned from a month in Australia taking part in the ITV show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!

McIlroy was an outsider for the award won by Mary Earps in his first nomination since 2014, the best year of his career.

The 34-year-old had been the red hot favourite to win the BBC prize that year after clinching both the Open and PGA Championship, as well as helping Europe complete a hat-trick of Ryder Cup wins. But he controversially lost out to Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton, who took the award following a public campaign led by the driver’s Mercedes team.

Earlier that year, McIlroy declared his intention to represent the Republic of Ireland at the Olympics, rather than Great Britain.

McIlroy’s nomination for the BBC award this year was the first for a golfer since the Corporation lost live rights both to the Open and Masters, with 2016 Augusta champion Danny Willett the most recent previous contender.

Matt Fitzpatrick controversially failed to make last year’s shortlist after winning the US Open to become the youngest English major champion since Tony Jacklin more than half a century earlier.

Georgia Hall, herself snubbed four years earlier after winning the Women’s Open to become just the fourth female English major champion, was among those to hit out at the time.

She wrote on what is now X:

Ian Poulter also branded the awards a “joke”, while Justin Rose wrote:

Only two golfers have won the BBC prize: Dai Rees in 1957 and Nick Faldo in 1989.

The BBC declined to comment on McIlroy’s absence from Tuesday’s ceremony. Representatives for the golfer have been approached for comment.

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