Rory McIlroy is underway at the PGA Championship as the Northern Irishman returns his attention to golf after filing for divorce from wife Erica Stoll.
News of McIlroy’s impending divorce came on the eve of this week’s major championship at Kentucky, where his communications team confirmed that he is in the process of separating from Stoll seven years after they married.
The 35-year-old declined to discuss the issue at a news conference on Wednesday, emphasizing that his only goal is to return to action at Valhalla Golf Club.
And amid the drama surrounding his personal life, he stepped out Thursday morning to officially begin his campaign at this year’s PGA Championship.
Rory McIlroy is underway at the PGA Championship as he refocuses his attention on golf after filing for divorce from wife Erica Stoll.
News of McIlroy’s divorce from Stoll (pictured with daughter Poppy) came on the eve of this week’s major championship in Kentucky.
McIlroy skipped the PGA Champions dinner just hours after news of his divorce broke on Tuesday, while previous winners such as Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas were there.
However, he was seen practicing in Valhalla before and again on Wednesday, ahead of his first round on Thursday.
The four-time major champion is said to have filed divorce papers on Monday, just three days before the start of the PGA Championship, the second major of the year, and fresh off his latest victory at the Wells Fargo Championship on Friday. from last week.
After confirming that she had filed for divorce, McIlroy’s communications team highlighted her desire to ensure the process is “as respectful and amicable as possible.”
Court documents filed in Palm Beach County obtained by DailyMail.com claimed their marriage was “irretrievably broken.”
The couple, who share three-year-old daughter Poppy Kennedy, born in 2020, married in 2017 after a fairytale meeting at the 2012 Ryder Cup.
McIlroy, whose career earnings total almost £69 million ($87 million), met New York state native Erica, 35, during the tournament in Illinois where she was working for the PGA.
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 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 four-time Major champion and Stoll kept their relationship largely private before tying the knot in a lavish ceremony in Ireland in 2017.