Sport’s Personality of the Year: McIlroy or Hamilton?

With Christmas fast approaching, along with it comes Sports Personality of the Year. Last year Andy Murray walked the contest, with bookies paying out as soon as he won Wimbledon in July, but this year isn’t a one-horse race. Rory McIlroy has been the favourite with the bookies for most of the year, but after last weekend’s F1 finale, Lewis Hamilton is well within a shot of winning the trophy. So which one would you go for?

A golfer hasn’t won the award since Nick Faldo 25 years ago, but McIlroy has the best chance of any since then to pick up the trophy. McIlroy won two major titles in 2014, first at Hoylake followed by Valhalla, and then went on to play a strong part in Europe’s victory over America in the Ryder Cup. He ended the year as the Europea Tour’s No. 1 player and all of this makes him the favourite for the trophy come December.

However, it won’t be as clear cut as people may have first thought. Similar to golf, an F1 champion hasn’t been named Sport’s Personality of the Year since 1992 but Hamilton will be hoping he can change that after he won the drivers’ championship for the second time in his career last Sunday, therefore being a key player in bringing the victory to the Mercedes team. To add to this, he has secured many British records, his 33 wins so far in his career being a particularly impressive one.

So who deserves it more? Hamilton has stood out of late, and the timing of his win may help him out when it comes to winning the award. However, McIlroy’s continued dominance across the year looks to put him in pole position. Of course, there are 8 other nominees including Gareth Bale and Carl Froch, but it’s unlikely that anybody is realistically looking past McIlroy and Hamilton when calling the winner.