Rory McIlroy is said to be doing some soul-searching amid his divorce from wife Erica Stoll.
McIlroy, 35, filed to end his marriage to Stoll, 36, on May 13 after seven years of marriage, fresh off his last win at the Wells Fargo Championship.
However, despite his latest win at Quail Hollow, the World No. 3 is focused on winning again on the course amid his turbulent life off the course.
“He’s just trying to find himself, focus and get back to winning ways,” a source said. Peopleadding that McIlroy, 35, “went through such a winning phase and hasn’t done much in the last five years.”
Divorce is not the Northern Irishman’s only problem outside the course. He has been the most unconditional support of the PGA Tour in the midst of the battle with LIV Golf.
Rory McIlroy is said to be doing some soul-searching amid his divorce from wife Erica Stoll.
He had left the PGA Tour Board of Directors late last year citing personal and professional reasons, but was expected to replace Webb Simpson upon his return.
But three of the five remaining player managers, including Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati, Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth, voted against the move earlier this month.
“Plus, he put his blood, sweat and tears into defending the PGA against LIV golf for the last two years and it was basically to no avail,” the source said, referring to the explosive PGA-LIV merger that rocked the golf world last June. .
The source also sympathized with Stoll, pointing out how difficult it is to be the wife of a professional golfer due to his busy schedule and the “beautiful women” and “parasites” that come with it.
“It’s a tough life being a golfer’s wife,” the source said. “They are always out, in tournaments and training, there has to be a lot of confidence.”
“Either you have to join them on tour and move on or just trust them, there’s no way you can expect them to be home and be able to help with the kids,” the source added.
McIlroy and Stoll married in 2017 and share a daughter, Poppy, 3, whom they welcomed in 2020.
After becoming a mother, Stoll is said to have thrown herself into parenthood, making Poppy her priority, especially when the impact of McIlroy’s PGA Tour lifestyle hit the road.
McIlroy is focused on winning again amid his turbulent life off the field.
The couple share a three-year-old daughter, Poppy, who was born in 2020 (McIlroy, Poppy and Stoll pictured in 2023).
“A point of contention in Rory’s marriage to Erica was that Erica felt alone in her marriage,” a source said. Us weekly. It was difficult to marry Rory.
The source close to the couple also revealed that their marriage had reached a “breaking point.”
“She knew what she was getting into with her career, but once they had Poppy, things really changed and she had a new perspective,” the source added.
“Erica was usually absent during most of her tournaments and was very focused on Poppy.”
mcilroy, whose career earnings on the PGA Tour total nearly $87 million, met Erica, a New York state native, during the 2012 Ryder Cup in Medinah in Illinoisin where he worked for the PGA of America.
He had previously credited the American with helping him reach his departure time in Medinah, thanks to a police escort, after the alarm was missed.
He then won his match over Keegan Bradley as part of what was later hailed as the “Medinanah Miracle”.
Although they initially met at the Ryder Cup that year, it wasn’t until a few years later that the pair entered into a relationship.
A source told US Weekly that Stoll, a native of upstate New York, had become “reclusive” in the marriage.
A few months after calling off his engagement to tennis star Caroline Wozniacki in 2014, McIlroy and Stoll got together before getting engaged a year later.
The golfer is said to have dumped his then-fiancee Wozniacki in a three-minute phone call hours after telling her he loved her. Their separation occurred in May 2014, before getting married in November.
McIlroy’s breakup with Wozniacki came days before the BMW PGA Championship in England, which he won. In the same event the year before, he tied for 96th place.
Court documents filed in Palm Beach County last week and obtained by DailyMail.com claim their marriage was “irretrievably broken.”
The divorce petition also claims that the couple had signed a prenuptial agreement. However, details of the agreement have not been disclosed.
McIlroy’s lawyer was listed as Thomas Sasser, the same lawyer who represented Tiger Woods when his wife divorced him in 2010.
The filing also calls for joint custody and the establishment of a parenting plan for Poppy.
McIlroy broke his silence about the split on May 14 through his communications team, who issued a brief statement confirming that he had filed for divorce. They highlighted McIlroy’s desire to ensure the process is “as respectful and friendly as possible.”
McIlroy split from tennis star Caroline Wozniacki in 2014, months before they got married.
Stoll, who previously worked for the PGA, is said to be “normally absent” from its events.
But the four-time major winner refused to address the breakdown of his marriage before last week’s PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club.
24 hours after the news leaked, McIlroy addressed the media, who had been warned by a moderator that he “will not be making any further comments about his private life.”
The closest anyone came to being on the sidelines of that discussion was asking him how he was doing. McIlroy, seeing the subtext, offered just six words in response: “I’m ready to play this week.”
But the Northern Irishman failed to repeat his success from 2014, when he won his last major at Valhalla. He finished tied for 12th, nine shots behind the first major winner, Xander Schauffele.
Stoll is believed to have stayed at the couple’s lavish $22 million mansion with their daughter Poppy, while McIlroy traveled to Louisville, Kentucky for the PGA Championship, despite the split.
McIlroy purchased the house in Jupiter, Florida, within the guard-gated Bear’s Club golf community, from golf legend Ernie Els for a staggering $11 million in 2012. It is now believed to be worth twice as much.
He said in a statement at the time that he was not ready to marry and, although he said he would not comment further, he answered questions at a press conference that followed before the tournament.
He also had two major championship victories that year, the Open at Royal Liverpool in July and the PGA Championship in August at Valhalla, the same course as the same tournament last week.
Stoll is believed to have stayed at his $22 million mansion over the weekend with Poppy.
McIlroy is pictured with his daughter Poppy McIlroy during the 2023 Masters Par 3 contest.
The four-time Major champion and Stoll kept their relationship largely private before tying the knot in a lavish ceremony in Ireland in 2017.
McIlroy had followed his team’s success alongside friend and Ryder Cup teammate Shane Lowry at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans last month with their win at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the Wells Fargo Championship , one of the PGA Tour’s signature $20 million events. .
However, he failed to end his 10-year drought without a major championship in Louisville, Kentucky, where Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland provided a thrilling shootout on Sunday.
He also has not played at Colonial for the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas this week.