McIlroy (21) achieved this distinction yesterday when he beat Shaun Scott (North East Valley) 25-20 in a closely fought final of the Speight's North East Valley Invitation singles.
This is the 18th year that the event has been held and caricatures of all the winners, drawn by former Queenstown artist John Parsons, have pride of place on the clubrooms wall.
McIlroy joins a select band who have won the prestige event more than once.
The others are Rowan Brassey (three times), Russell Meyer and Jim Scott (both twice).
"Before this year's event started last Friday, I said it would be great to have two caricatures of myself on the clubroom wall," McIlroy said.
It meant a lot to him when he won two years ago to become the first Maori to have his portrait placed on the wall.
But this time it meant even more.
"I'm absolutely speechless about all this.
It's an amazing feeling," he said.
"I can't wait until the next one.
It's made me hungry to win more and more."
He made sure he was ready for the challenge by having early nights.
"I had a few beers with the boys after bowls, but just in moderation," he said.
"I'm just ecstatic about the result."
McIlroy was more accurate with his draw bowls but Scott (43) kept in front with accurate drives and upshots.
Five times Scott turned ends to his favour when down on the head.
On the third end, McIlroy had two shots on the head but an accurate drive by Scott turned it around and gave him two shots.
On the 12th end Scott was two down on the head when he pushed the jack sideways with his third bowl and drew the bonus shot with his fourth bowl, to extend his lead to 11-8.
On the 19th end Scott was three down on the head when he drove the jack to the ditch.
He added two more shots when he drove out McIlroy's second shot with his fourth bowl.
The lead was 15-13.
Scott played the more aggressive game and hit 13 of his 18 drives to keep himself in the lead until the 22nd end.
McIlroy hit only one of his three drives but he was not put off by Scott's barrage of drives.
"My drawing was going pretty well in the game and I kept applying pressure around the jack," McIlroy said.
"But sometimes I got a bit too close with my third bowl and it gave him the opportunity to play with a firm weight and get the result."
McIlroy was not fazed by Scott's aggressive approach and kept to his pre-match plan of drawing close to the jack.
He kept in touch and levelled the scores at 11-11 after 14 ends and 13-13 after 18 ends.
But it was not until the 22nd end that his steady approach brought dividends, when Scott missed his fourth-bowl drive.
McIlroy drew the bonus shot with his last bowl to take four shots on the end and the lead, for the first time in the game.
He added twos on the next three ends, to score 10 shots on just four ends and take an unbeatable 24-17 lead.
In the semifinals, McIlroy had a hard-fought 25-22 win over the experienced Steve Posa (Canterbury), while Scott had a comfortable 25-18 win over Sydney-based World Bowls representative Ali Forsyth.
Andrew Todd won the plate final when he beat Shane Sincock (Canterbury) 21-9.
Alastair Keith's Composite four was a convincing winner of the 12th annual Taieri open fours at the weekend.
With Robert Gibson, Brent Webster and Tim Woods, he comfortably beat the defending champions, Peter McGregor, Kris Newall, Vern Gray and Ken Walker, 10-4 in the final.
