Rory McIlroy has filed for divorce from his wife of seven years, Erica Stoll, on the eve of the PGA Championship.
According to court records in Palm Beach County, Florida, the couple, who met during the Ryder Cup in 2012, are now heading their separate ways.
They began dating two years later and married in 2017 before going on to have one daughter, Poppy, in September 2020.
The filing was first made on Monday and a statement from McIlroy’s manager, Sean O’Flaherty, confirmed the split.
He said: “Rory McIlroy’s communications team confirmed today that a divorce has been filed.
“They stressed Rory’s desire to ensure this difficult time is as respectful and amicable as possible.”
He said there would be no further comment.
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Image: Rory McIlroy and Erica Stoll at the Spanish Steps in Rome ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup. Pic: PA
TMZ first reported on the filing and McIlroy’s attorney was listed as Thomas Sasser, the same attorney who represented Tiger Woods when his wife divorced him in 2010.
The news came as McIlroy arrived at the Valhalla Golf Club, which plays host to the PGA Championship, on Tuesday.
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McIlroy has gone a decade since winning a major, the last being the PGA Championship in 2014 and he has a pre-tournament news conference scheduled for Wednesday.
The golf star and Stoll met when she worked for the PGA of America in 2012 during the Ryder Cup at Medinah in the Chicago suburbs, where McIlroy almost missed a match because he forgot what time zone he was in.
Stoll arranged for a police escort to Medinah, and McIlroy barely arrived in time. But, he won his match over Keegan Bradley as Europe rallied to win.
McIlroy was dating tennis star Caroline Wozniacki at the time, who he got engaged to just over a year later.
But then McIlroy abruptly broke it off over the phone and he and Stoll began dating later that year. They were engaged in 2015.
The divorce filing comes amid chaos in golf created by the launch of Saudi-funded LIV Golf.
The Northern Irishman has been a central figure over the last two years, harshly criticizing LIV and then changing his views and pushing for some form of reunification.
Source : Sky News
