Rory McIlroy is said to be searching for his soul during his divorce from his wife Erica Stoll.
McIlroy, 35, filed on May 13 to end his marriage to Stoll, 36, after seven years of marriage, fresh off his latest victory at the Wells Fargo Championship.
But despite his latest victory at Quail Hollow, the world number 3 is focused on returning to winning ways on the track amid his turbulent life off the track.
“He’s trying to find himself, focus and start winning again,” a source said Peopleadding that McIlroy, 35, “has been going through such a winning phase and hasn’t done much in the last five years.”
The divorce is not the only problem for the Northern Irishman. He was the PGA Tour’s staunchest supporter during the battle with LIV Golf.
Rory McIlroy is said to be searching for his soul during his divorce from his wife Erica Stoll
He had left the PGA Tour Policy Board late last year for personal and professional reasons, but was expected to replace Webb Simpson upon his return.
But three of the five remaining player directors – including Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati, Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth – voted against the move earlier this month.
“Plus, he has spent the last two years putting his blood, sweat and tears into defending the PGA against LIV golf, and it was basically for nothing,” the source said, referring to the great PGA-LIV merger that has changed the golf world turned upside down last June.
The source also sympathized with Stoll, noting how tough it is to be a professional golfer’s wife because of their busy schedules and the “followers” and “beautiful women” that come with it.
“It’s a tough life being a golfer’s wife,” the source said. ‘They are always away at tournaments and practices, there has to be a lot of trust.’
“You have to go on tour with them and go with them, or you just have to have faith in them. It’s impossible to expect them to be home and help with the kids,” the insider added.
McIlroy and Stoll married in 2017 and share 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 McIlroy’s PGA Tour lifestyle was affected along the way.
McIlroy is focused on getting back to winning ways in his turbulent life off the court
The couple share three-year-old daughter Poppy, born in 2020 (McIlroy, Poppy and Stoll pictured in 2023)
“One point of contention in Rory’s marriage to Erica was that Erica was lonely in their marriage,” an insider said We weekly. “Rory was a difficult person to marry.”
The source close to the couple also revealed that their marriage had reached a ‘breaking point’.
“She knew what she was getting into with his profession, but once they had Poppy, things really changed and she had a new perspective,” the source added.
“Erica was usually absent from most of his tournaments and was very focused on Poppy.”
McIlroy, whose career earnings on the PGA Tour total nearly $87 million, Erica, a native of upstate New York, first met at the 2012 Ryder Cup in Medinah in Illinoisbee for which she worked for the PGA of America.
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 source told US Weekly that Stoll, a native of upstate New York, had become “lonely” 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 allegedly dumped his then fiancée Wozniacki in a three-minute phone call after telling her he loved her. Their divorce came in May 2014, before their wedding in November.
McIlroy’s split with Wozniacki came days before the BMW PGA Championship in England, which he later won. At the same event last year he tied for 96th.
Court documents filed last week in Palm Beach County and obtained by DailyMail.com say their marriage was “irretrievably broken.”
The divorce petition also states that the couple had signed a prenuptial agreement. However, details of the scheme have not been disclosed.
McIlroy’s attorney was listed as Thomas Sasser, the same attorney who represented Tiger Woods when his wife divorced him in 2010.
The filing also calls for shared custody and the creation of a parenting plan for Poppy.
McIlroy broke his silence on the split on May 14 via his communications team, which issued a brief statement confirming that he had filed for divorce. They emphasized McIlroy’s desire to ensure the process is “as respectful and amicable 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 “usually absent” from its events
But the four-time major winner refused to discuss the breakdown of his marriage ahead of last week’s PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club.
24 hours after the news filtered out, McIlroy addressed the media, who had been warned by a moderator that “he will be making no further comments about his private life.”
The closest anyone came to the edge of that discussion was asking how they were doing. McIlroy, noticing the subtext, said just six words in response: “I’m ready to play this week.”
But the Northern Irishman failed to repeat his 2014 success as he won his last major in Valhalla. He finished tied for 12th, nine shots behind the first major winner Xander Schauffele.
Stoll is said to have stayed at the couple’s luxurious $22 million mansion with daughter Poppy, while McIlroy traveled to Louisville, Kentucky for the PGA Championship despite the split.
McIlroy purchased the Jupiter, Florida home in the gated golf community of Bear’s Club from golf legend Ernie Els in 2012 for a whopping $11 million. It is now believed to be worth double that.
He said in a statement at the time that he was not ready for marriage – and while he said he would make no further comment, he did answer questions at a press conference ahead of the tournament.
He also claimed 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 the previous week.
Stoll is believed to have stayed at their $22 million mansion with Poppy over the weekend
McIlroy is pictured with his daughter Poppy McIlroy at the 2023 Masters Par 3 competition
The four-time champion and Stoll kept their relationship largely private before marrying in a lavish ceremony in Ireland in 2017.
McIlroy had followed up his team success alongside friend and Ryder Cup teammate Shane Lowry at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans last month with his victory at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina for the Wells Fargo Championship – one of the $20 million signature events of the PGA Tour.
However, he failed to end his 10-year major championship drought in Louisville, Kentucky, where Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland produced a thrilling Sunday shootout.
He also didn’t do it this week at Colonial for the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas.