Rory McIlroy, who this year became the youngest US Open champion for 88 years aged just 22, has been honoured with an MBE in the New Year Honours.
McIlroy joins fellow Ulster golfer Darren Clarke on the list, which also includes much loved cricket umpire Dickie Bird.
Many of this year's honours - which come as Britain gears up for the Olympic Games - go to leading sporting figures.
Clarke, who triumphed at this year's Open at the age of 42, gets an OBE, while retired international umpire Harold "Dickie" Bird, 78, of Barnsley, south Yorkshire, gets an OBE for services to cricket and charity.
Former Formula 1 motor racing world champion Nigel Mansell, 58, also the president of the charity UK Youth, now based in Jersey, gets a CBE for services to children and young people.
Football veteran Doug Ellis, who ran Birmingham club Aston Villa for more than two decades, is knighted for charitable services.
See a slideshow of the sporting winners below