Yahoo Sport 
Rory McIlroy may miss out on top award, but he is in a class of his own among the pantheon of Irish sporting greats
It's only a matter of weeks until RTE's Sportsperson of the Year award is announced - and it will be keenly contested.
After all, 2024 saw Paul O'Donovan won his third Olympic medal as well as become world champion, and Kellie Harrington retained her Olympic title.
There were Olympic golds for swimmer Daniel Wiffen and gymnast Rhys McClenaghan, to boot, and European Championship gold for Ciara Mageean.
Read more: Rory McIlroy's career earnings reach staggering amount following his latest win in Dubai
Just a few days ago, three time RTE award winner Katie Taylor saw off Amanda Serrano in one of the fights of the year.
Caelan Doris has made the shortlist for World Rugby Player of the Year and then there's Rory McIlroy...
From this writers' stint on the RTE judging panel, it became clear that McIlroy prefers not to be considered unless he'd won a Major.
It shows the elevated status he has. If any other Irish golfer had his 2024, we'd be singing their praises for months.
With McIlroy, though, we obsess over the ones that got away - notably, the US Open this year.
But the way he hoovers up prize money is something Irish sport has never experienced before.
You'd wonder what his Team Ireland Olympic teammates make of him. McIlroy's worst performance on the DP World Tour in 2024 was at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, where he finished T25 for $39,744. That's virtually identical to the top annual grant paid to the likes of McClenaghan and O'Donovan by Sport Ireland.
With endorsements added to his 2024 earnings, McIlroy’s wealth went up from $262 million in 2023 to $299 million in 2024.
And his net worth comes out to be $83 million. He is ranked as the world’s second-highest-paid golfer per Forbes.
Run through the back pages of Irish sport and it's clear that many of the most celebrated individuals excelled in team sports - from Christy Ring to Mick O'Connell to Tony O'Reilly to Mike Gibson to John Giles to DJ Carey to Paul McGrath to Roy Keane to Peter Canavan to Brian O'Driscoll.
All of them achieved genuine greatness and deserve their places in the pantheon.
When it comes to sportspeople from individual sports, there are comparatively few who really stand out.
Sonia O'Sullivan and Katie Taylor would be in the mix, because of their incredible haul of medals. And horse-racing has plenty of contenders too.
A public poll conducted by RTE in 2010 on this very subject named Padraig Harrington as the greatest and the rest of the top 10 was made up of Brian O'Driscoll, Joey Dunlop, George Best, Roy Keane, Sean Kelly, Sonia O'Sullivan, Christy Ring, Vincent O'Brien, Paul McGrath.
Nobody would now rank Harrington ahead of McIlroy. He is still chasing that elusive fifth Major, but he is Ireland's number one.
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