Rory McIlroy was honoured as Golfer of the Year and Players' Player of the Year at the the European Tour Players' Awards on Tuesday evening.

The world number one won the double award at a ceremony at Sofitel Heathrow following a stunning year in which he won the Open and the US PGA Championship as well as playing in Europe's Ryder Cup win.

The Ulsterman's last 10 European Tour finishes have seen him claim five victories, three runners-ups places and two more top-10 spots.

McIlroy told Sky Sports: "The last 12 months have been absolutely incredible.

"I've put the hard work in and it's really paid off. I've got seven wins in the last 12 months and I'm just trying to keep going and increase that tally.

"There's a lot to play for this year, I've got off to a great start and I just need to continue that."

American Brooks Koepka was another double winner as he received the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award and the Challenge Tour Graduate of the Year Award, after winning November's Turkish Airlines Open to go with four other top-10 finishes.

There were also celebrations for the full Ryder Cup team, accompanied by former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson who was invited by captain Paul McGinley to address the team before the start of the contest, while Welshman Jamie Donaldson won the Shot of the Year award for the approach which sealed the winning point.

And McIlroy noted: "Even with all the personal success I've had over the past year, the Ryder Cup was the most enjoyable week."

In a BBC interview, McIlroy was asked about the possibility of quitting the game at the age of 40.

"That's 14 years away, that's longer than most sports people have, and I've already had an eight-year career in golf," he said.

"Twenty-five years should be enough to help me achieve what I want to. If there comes a time when I feel I can't win or give it my best I'd very happily hang up the sticks and do something else.

"I want to win a lot more tournaments, I can win a lot more majors. I haven't put a number on it because I don't want to put that burden on myself. I just want to be better than everyone else.

"I've put in a lot of hard work over the past 12 months, just working that little bit harder, just those tiny little differences that separate a top-five finish from a win."