When it comes to sporting success, Rory McIlroy‘s golfing career is up there with some of the greats.
But off the course, his personal life has had plenty of ups and downs, with his love life and marriage to Erica Stoll dominating headlines over the years.
The couple have been together since 2014, but it hasn’t been smooth sailing and last year it looked like they were done with a divorce on the way.
The Northern Irish athlete, 36, ultimately called it off – another twist in their unconventional love story, which seems to be back on the up now.
The couple met in 2012 when McIlroy, who is in Melbourne this week for the 2025 Australian Open, was dating tennis player Caroline Wozniacki.
At the time, Stoll was working as PGA’s transport official, and she was there to help get McIlroy to the Ryder Cup tournament on time when he accidentally overslept.
Stoll got him a police escort to the course in Medinah, Ill – ultimately the reason he made it on the day.
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Their relationship was purely a friendship at this time.
McIlroy and Wozniacki got engaged on New Year’s Eve in 2013, but the golfer broke things off via a phone call a few months later, after invitations had been sent out.
“There is no right way to end a relationship that has been so important to two people,” he said in a statement at the time, according to CNN.
“The problem is mine. The wedding invitations issued at the weekend made me realise that I wasn’t ready for all that marriage entails.”
For her part, Wozniacki was shocked by how it ended, later revealing: “I thought at least I would get a face-to-face or something, but there was nothing. It was a phone call, and I did not hear from him again.”
Meanwhile, things between McIlroy and Stoll started to blossom, and they started dating in late 2014. The new couple attempted to keep things private, choosing not to make many public appearances together at the start.
“I am very happy in my love life. We haven’t really been putting it out there,” McIlroy told The Times in May 2015, a little over six months into their relationship.
“She is from America, which is why I like to spend time in Palm Beach … The past six or seven months have been really nice. That part of my life is going great.”
The fact they started out as friends is something the golfer has previously spoken about.
“The thing I love about [our relationship] is that we were friends before anything romantic happened,” he told the Irish Independent in 2017.
“There was no judgment from day one, which is huge, because that’s very hard to find for someone in my position.”
The pair got engaged in Paris in 2015, although a recent terrorist attack in the city had McIlroy rethinking the proposal.
They decided to go through with the trip, and ultimately he got down on one knee as planned.
“We felt comfortable but I still thought at least at the start of the trip, it might make the rest of the trip even better. So we went out for dinner and that was that,” he told Independent at the time.
They went on to tie the knot on April 2022, 2017, in a stunning ceremony at Ashford Castle in County Mayo, Ireland.
As they started their life together as husband and wife, his career once again took off, but she opted to stay out of the spotlight.
McIlroy had previously addressed Stoll’s desire to stay on the sidelines, quietly supporting him.
“Erica has been around me quite a lot at tournaments, but we have really just tried to keep it low-key. She is a very low-key person, not the kind to broadcast stuff,” McIlroy told the Irish Independent after their engagement.
Keeping their private life and his career separate was something he pushed for when signing on for the Netflix series Full Swing.
The golfer only agreed to sign on to the show after production agreed to his filming terms.
“I made sure that the parameters were very much like, ‘You’re … not coming to my house, you’re not coming in my car, you’re not coming anywhere near my family, but you want to do some stuff with me at golf tournaments, totally fine’,” he told the Golf Channel.
Rory and Erica welcomed a daughter named Poppy in August 2020.
But their relationship took a turn last year when McIlroy filed for divorce in May, weeks after their seventh wedding anniversary.
“Rory McIlroy’s communications team confirmed today that a divorce has been filed,” a statement from the golfer’s team said.
“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.”
The documents, filed by McIlroy, reportedly stated the marriage was “irretrievably broken” and that he and Stoll had a prenup, according to The New York Post.
Just a month later, the sport star called off the divorce.
McIlroy explained the decision in an interview with The Guardian the same day as his attorney’s filing.
“Over the past weeks, Erica and I have realised that our best future was as a family together. Thankfully, we have resolved our differences and look forward to a new beginning,” he said.
Despite their turbulent ups and downs throughout the last 12 months, Stoll and Poppy were by McIlroy’s side at the 2025 Masters earlier this year.
The family put on a united front before the tournament, participating in the annual Par 3 contest, with Poppy showing off her skills with an impressive putt.
Then, on April 13, Stoll stood by the 18th green to watch her husband make history.
McIlroy won over Justin Rose, becoming one of only six professional golfers to win a career Grand Slam.
The trio posed proudly for photos together, and have at other golfing events since, proving there really can be a way back from the brink.
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