Why Am I So Obsessed With Rory McIlroy and Erica Stoll’s Canceled Divorce?
Consider me a pro-golf fan.
This weekend, pro golfer Rory McIlroy bungled his chance to win his first major championship in ten years by missing a couple easy puts in the final round of the U.S. Open in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Golf commentators are absolutely losing their minds over McIlroy’s disappointing second-place finish, puzzling over how he could have missed such easy shots, but I have two much more important questions: Why wasn’t he wearing his wedding ring? and Where was his wife, Erica Stoll?
Never in my life did I think I would care about a pro golfer’s personal life, but after watching two seasons of the golf “docuseries” Full Swing on Netflix, I am fully obsessed with the marriages of the men on the PGA Tour. Especially McIlroy, whose romantic union has imploded and somehow reconstituted itself in record time over the last month. If you haven’t been following this divorce drama, please let me catch you up.
McIlroy, 35, filed for divorce from Stoll, 36, out of nowhere on May 13 — the day after Mother’s Day. In a statement, his spokesperson told the Irish Star, “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 will not be making any further comment.” McIlroy was represented by attorney Thomas J. Sasser, who repped Tiger Woods in his divorce from Elin Nordegren in 2010 (and, more recently, Joe Jonas in his split from Sophie Turner). According to ESPN, Sasser stated in the filing that McIlroy and Stoll’s marriage was “irretrievably broken” and asked the judge to enforce the couple’s prenuptial agreement. He also requested that the couple have joint custody of their 3-year-old daughter, Poppy.
Stoll was not notified of the filing in a very friendly way. According to the Belfast Telegraph, McIlroy hired a private investigator to serve Stoll the papers at their home in Jupiter, Florida, while he was away playing a tournament. (McIlroy is originally from Northern Ireland, while Stoll is from New York.) A source told Us Weekly that this kind of coldness is not out of character for McIlroy. “A point of contention in Rory’s marriage with Erica was that Erica was lonely in their marriage,” the source said. “Rory was a hard person to be married to.”
To make matters worse, shortly after McIlroy served Stoll with divorce papers, the Daily Mail reported he already had a new girlfriend: CBS golf reporter Amanda Balionis, who happens to be one of the talking heads on Full Swing. Balionis regularly interviews McIlroy at tournaments, and the paparazzi have since caught the two hugging (albeit in a pretty platonic manner) at various events.
A source insisted to Us Weekly that McIlroy and Balionis have a strictly professional relationship, but it wouldn’t be crazy for McIlroy to end up with someone who works in the golf world — that’s how he met Stoll. She was working for the PGA Tour when the couple met in 2012. At the time, McIlroy was dating Danish tennis star Caroline Wozniacki. McIlroy and Wozniacki got engaged on New Year’s Eve in 2013, but McIlroy called off the wedding five months later in a three-minute phone call the weekend they sent out their wedding invitations, according to Wozniacki. McIlroy confirmed as much in a statement at the time. “There is no right way to end a relationship that has been so important to two people,” he said. “The problem is mine. The wedding invitations issued at the weekend made me realize that I wasn’t ready for all that marriage entails.”
That same year, he started dating Stoll, and the two got married at Ashford Castle in Ireland in 2017. A source close to Wozniacki told Us Weekly after his divorce announcement that she “wants no part of his drama.”
“Rory was the last straw for Caroline when it came to men,” the source continued. “She always wanted a nice home and family life. An under-the-radar existence with family. That’s not Rory.”
Damn!
The story could have ended there: Professional sports man ends another long-term relationship in a rude manner. But somehow, someway, McIlroy and Stoll are … back together? McIlroy made the announcement just before the U.S. Open last week.
“There have been rumors about my personal life recently, which is unfortunate. Responding to each rumor is a fool’s game,” he said in a statement to The Guardian. “Over the past weeks, Erica and I have realized that our best future was as a family together. Thankfully, we have resolved our differences and look forward to a new beginning.”
McIlroy’s attorney filed to dismiss the divorce case, and it is now closed.
McIlroy and Stoll have not been photographed together since they allegedly resolved their differences, however. Stoll did not attend the U.S. Open. But after McIlroy lost in the final round, the Mirror reported that he flew straight home to Florida. If Netflix’s cameras haven’t captured any of this, I’m going to sue.
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