Rory McIlroy is on his way to the PGA Championship as the Northern Irishman turns his attention back 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 in Kentucky, where his communications team confirmed that he is in the process of divorcing Stoll seven years after their marriage.
The 35-year-old declined to discuss the subject at a press conference on Wednesday, instead insisting his sole focus is on returning to action at Valhalla Golf Club.
And amid the drama surrounding his personal life, he left Thursday morning to officially begin his campaign at this year’s PGA Championship.
His opening shot nevertheless did not go according to plan, but drifted left of the fairway in the rough direction.
Rory McIlroy retired from the PGA Championship on Thursday amid his divorce from his 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
The Northern Irishman started on Thursday morning and sent his opening drive to the rough side
He pulled it back and scored a birdie on his first hole of this week’s championship
McIlroy and Stoll (pictured together at the 2023 Ryder Cup) tied the knot in 2017
However, he pulled it back and scored a birdie to get off to a solid start in this week’s championship.
McIlroy skipped the PGA Champions dinner just hours after news of his divorce broke on Tuesday, with previous winners including Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas in attendance.
However, he was seen practicing in Valhalla beforehand, and again on Wednesday, ahead of his first round on Thursday.
The four-time major champion is said to have filed the divorce papers on Monday, just three days before the start of the PGA Championship, the second major of the year, and just after his latest victory at the Wells Fargo Championship last weekend.
After confirming he had filed for divorce, McIlroy’s communications team stressed he wanted to ensure the process was “as respectful and amicable as possible.”
Court documents filed in Palm Beach County, obtained by DailyMail.com, stated that their marriage was “irretrievably broken.”
The couple, who share three-year-old daughter Poppy Kennedy, born in 2020, tied the knot in 2017 after a storybook meeting at the 2012 Ryder Cup.
McIlroy faced the media on Wednesday but declined to answer questions about the divorce
He was also nowhere to be seen at the PGA Champions dinner on Tuesday evening (photo).
McIlroy, whose career earnings total almost £69 million ($87 million), first met Erica, 35, a native of upstate New York, at the tournament in Illinois, where she was working for the PGA.
He has previously credited the American with helping him make his start time in Madinah – thanks to a police escort – after he missed his alarm.
He went on to win his match against Keegan Bradley as part of what was later hailed as the ‘miracle in Medinah’.
Despite first meeting 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 champion and Stoll kept their relationship largely private before marrying in a lavish ceremony in Ireland in 2017.