Rory McIlroy (USATSI)
Rory McIlroy was named European Tour Player of the Year for a third time. (USATSI)

Rory McIlroy has been named the 2015 European Tour Player of the Year. It is the third time in four years that McIlroy has won the award. 

McIlroy was victorious in three European Tour tournaments in 2015, most notably the season-ending World Tour Championship in Dubai along with the WGC-Cadillac Championship and the Dubai Desert Classic. 

McIlroy said, per the European Tour, he was "very proud to have won this prestigious award for the third time," and that it is "always special, no matter how often, to be recognized this way."

McIlroy won the award despite not competing on a full European Tour schedule, and he had to be granted a special exemption to play in the tour's season-ending Final Series in Dubai (which he won).