Rory McIlroy and CBS Sports journalist Amanda Balionis spark romance rumours with flirty TV interview
RORY MCILROY and TV reporter Amanda Balionis have sparked romance rumours amid the golf star’s divorce.
The 35-year-old submitted legal documents to the courts in Florida on this month to end his marriage to Erica Stoll after seven years.
And now the Daily Mail has claimed that he may be in a blossoming relationship with CBS presenter Amanda Balionis after McIlroy hinted at trouble in his relationship with Erica with a subtle clue while being interviewed by her.
Balionis has recently noticeably ditched her wedding ring and her married name.
Now this fresh report states that the star’s relationship with the 19th Hole reporter “is the talk of the links” and “has left many fans wondering just how close the pair have become”.
The blonde bombshell, 38, interviewed the Northern Irishman after he had won the Wells Fargo Championship in Quail Hollow, North Carolina, which just happened to be Mother’s Day in the States.
“Flames were fanned” as Balionis “giggled, flirted, and fangirled her way through the interview” as “McIlroy appeared happy to bask in this clear adoration” from her.
Balionis then pointed out that McIlroy was wearing his ‘Mother’s Day’ pink.
She then asked him to pay tribute to his mum Rosie, the American did not invite him to do the same to Stoll, who is the mother of their three-year-old daughter, Poppy.
McIllroy hailed his Rosie as “the sort of rock and gel that holds our family together” before he summed up his mood at the end of the interview by telling Balionis: “It feels like the stars are aligning.”
Now this fresh report states that “their chemistry and ease in each other’s presence is clear” while the golfer has also seemingly been happy to support causes close to her heart.
He filmed a video supporting Puppies & Golf, the non-profit founded by Balionis that advocates for rescue dogs, in April.
Questions have been raised over recent months regarding the TV reporter’s two-year marriage to college football coach Bryn Renner, who is also a tech company account manager.
They got engaged in 2021 and wed the next year but Balionis has not worn her wedding ring since February on her social media posts.
Although it is understood that neither of them have filed for divorce, she has changed her username on X from her married moniker of Balionis Renner to just her maiden name of Balionis.
The Mail also states that McIlroy has been seen spending time “all around San Diego. More specifically…the Crown Point neighborhood of Pacific Beach.”
That estate is over 2,500 miles away from his home in Jupiter, Florida and just so happens to be where Balionis has a two-bed home that she purchased for $789,000 in 2020.
A source told them: “My sister was at a restaurant, and he came in to pick up a ‘to go’ and used the name ‘Amanda’ as the pick-up. He paid cash – only a few people noticed him, and he was out!”
Rory and Erica met when he overslept at the 2012 Ryder Cup and she arranged a police escort to get him to the first tee in time.
The golfer was dating Danish tennis ace Caroline Wozniacki at the time but he called off their engagement in 2014 after sending out the wedding invitations.
McIlroy started dating former PGA employee Stoll in 2015, proposing in Paris in December of that year.
They married in 2017 – joined by a star-studded guest list – and welcomed their baby daughter Poppy three years later.
Erica was in attendance at the Ryder Cup in Rome last autumn, cheering on her husband as he inspired Europe to an emphatic win over the USA.
However, neither of them has commented publicly on their split except for the official statement on May 14 from McIlroy’s communications team that confirmed the divorce filing.
Documents lodged to Palm Beach County Court, their marriage was described as “irretrievably broken”.
According to an insider, who spoke to US Weekly, the separation did not come as a surprise to either’s inner circle.
They claim: “A point of contention in Rory’s marriage was that Erica was lonely. Rory was a hard person to be married to.”
They state that the pair had “hit breaking point” as they lived separate lives.
McIlory was often away at tournaments, with Erica not present as she was instead focusing nearly all of her time into being a mother to daughter Poppy, three.
The source explained: “She knew what she was getting into with his profession, but once they had Poppy, things really changed and she had a new perspective.
“Erica was usually absent for most of his tournaments and was really focused on Poppy.”
Inside McIlroy’s whirlwind love life, including tennis champ and Meghan Markle
AND so it has run its course.
Rory McIlroy and Erica Stoll, who appeared a match made in heaven, are no more.
The pair were married for seven years and share a daughter called Poppy, who was born in 2020.
But the Northern Ireland golf star surprised fans everywhere when filed for divorce in May 2024.
And it isn’t the first time McIlroy’s relationships have made the headlines – with a romantic history involving a tennis star and even Meghan Markle.
When McIlroy burst onto the scene as a fresh faced teenager, he was supported by childhood sweetheart Holly.
However, they split up after he hit the big time – with McIlroy claiming the split was “amicable.”
But Holly alleged the golfer had left her for tennis star Caroline Wozniacki.
Beginning their romance in such an unceremonious way wasn’t the ideal start with the Danish tennis beauty.
They reportedly met at a boxing match, and soon prospered as a sporting power couple with McIlroy proposing on a romantic holiday to Monte Carlo on New Year’s eve 2013.
Fancy wedding invitations were sent to friends and family, with a date set.
However, Rory allegedly dumped Caroline in a three-minute PHONE CALL – just months before their nuptials.
And it was reportedly all down to a picture Wozniaki had put on Twitter.
In 2014, McIlroy was even romantically linked with the now Duchess of Sussex, Meghan.
The pair flirted in a video shared on social media, as he helped the American actress take part in the Ice Bucket Challenge, a viral trend adopted by many celebs to raise money for ALS.
Later Markle would wax lyrical about McIlroy on her blog.
But nothing even came of it as McIlroy soon fell for Erica – who he had met in bizarre circumstances after sleeping through his alarm at the 2012 Ryder Cup.
Erica, who worked on Tour, spared McIlroy’s embarrassment as he she helped him make his tee-time thanks to a police escort.
The incident began a firm friendship between the pair, four years before their relationship turned romantic.
Soon after, the couple got engaged in Paris and walked down the aisle at Ashford Castle in Ireland in 2017.
Click here to read our full feature on McIlroy’s love life...