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Rory McIlroy and wife Erica Stoll to take major relationship decision following US Open as they seek ‘fresh start'

Rory McIlroy and wife Erica Stoll to take major relationship decision following US Open as they seek ‘fresh start'

The Irish Sun2 days ago

RORY MCILROY is preparing for a big change to his home life following his Masters triumph.
The 36-year-old completed the career grand slam with victory at Augusta National in April.
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Rory McIlroy is embarking on a new journey with wife Erica Stoll (right)
Credit: Sportsfile
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The pair are preparing to move into their new bespoke house on the outskirts of London
Credit: Getty
McIlroy heads to the
And he is ready for a
The Northern Irishman announced last May that he and Stoll
But just a month later, the couple confirmed
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Rory explained: "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."
McIlroy and Stoll currently live in a
The couple have been looking to fly the nest from the Sunshine State in favour of a cooler climate.
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McIlroy and Erica have been waiting for completion on a new home on the outskirts of London over the past two years.
Construction on their bespoke mansion is now finished, with the family set to move in.
Rory McIlroy doesn't name-check wife Erica as part of 'close-knit support system' in interview with Amanda Balionis
Rory's new digs are located in Virginia Water, on the west side of the capital.
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The plot is located in the exclusive Wentworth estate, according to
McIlroy will retain his home in South Florida alongside the new base in London.
Following his win at the Masters, the family stopped off to see how construction was progressing.
Inside Rory McIlroy's whirlwind love life
RORY MCILROY enjoyed a high-profile romance with former tennis world number one Caroline Wozniacki before their split in 2014.
The following year, the golf ace began dating Erica Stoll, who he had first met on the PGA Tour in 2011.
Erica often interacted with players through her role as the PGA's manager of championship volunteer operations.
She even prevented McIlroy from missing his tee time at the 2012 Ryder Cup after some confusion over the time zone.
The incident began a firm friendship between the pair, four years before their relationship turned romantic.
McIlroy and Erica were spotted on a string of dates in Rochester, New York, in the early days of their relationship.
Just eight months later, the couple got engaged in Paris and walked down the aisle at Ashford Castle in Ireland in 2017.
The pair then welcomed daughter Poppy into the world three years later.
Throughout their time together, McIlroy and Erica have kept their relationship to themselves, with the golfer keen to protect his family from the cameras during filming of Netflix's Full Swing documentary series.
However, after seven years of marriage, McIlroy filed for divorce from Erica.
The reasons for the divorce were not disclosed, but the Northern Irishman submitted documents to a court in Florida.
However, a few weeks later, performed a U-turn on their decision to divorce.
McIlroy told the outlet: "Thankfully, we have resolved our differences and look forward to a new beginning.'
McIlroy said: "We first went to London with Erica and Poppy to see our new home that we're building.
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"We made the trip over to Belfast to see a few other people that are important to us.
"Just to be with them, to be with Erica and Poppy and my mom and dad.
"To see Michael Bannon, my lifelong coach, and spend a bit more time with Harry [Diamond] and his wife.
"[To] celebrate with the people that have been part of this whole thing for my entire career was absolutely amazing."
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Angry Rory McIlroy narrowly survives cut at US Open
Angry Rory McIlroy narrowly survives cut at US Open

The 42

timean hour ago

  • The 42

Angry Rory McIlroy narrowly survives cut at US Open

AN ANGRY Rory McIlroy needed a birdie on the last hole of his second round to make the cut at the US Open. McIlroy said before the tournament that he needed to shake off the hangover of his epic Masters win at Augusta National in April, but he could not have chosen a harder place to do that. The brutal Oakmont course in Pittsburgh has been chewing up and spitting out the best players in the world, and McIlroy is one of them. Frustration boils over for Rory McIlroy after his approach shot on the 12th 😡 — Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) June 13, 2025 After a four-over-par 74 on Thursday, McIlroy had hopes of fighting back into contention in the second round, but he again struggled to tame the course, posting two double bogeys in the opening three holes. Such was his frustration, he launched his club in anger at the 12th hole after sending another shot into the unforgiving rough before smashing a tee marker on the 17th when finding the bunker. He produced some magic on the 18th with a stunning approach shot to five feet and converted for a birdie to reach six-over-par, which keeps him around for the weekend. Whether he will be pleased about that or not is another story entirely, and he will not be challenging for the title come Sunday night. His late birdie did not quell the frustration enough for him to speak to the media as he skipped post-round duties for the sixth successive round at a major. Rory McIlroy makes the cut at Oakmont ✅ — Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) June 13, 2025 There was no such luck for Shane Lowry as he finished on 17-over-par following a second-round 78. A bad day for the Offaly golfer was compounded on the 14th hole. Lowry picked up his ball on the green but forgot to mark it. Soon realising his error, Lowry put the ball back down before sharing a laugh with groupmates McIlroy and Justin Rose. Advertisement Oakmont is taking its toll. Shane Lowry forgot to mark his ball on the 14th green before picking it up. — Fried Egg Golf (@fried_egg_golf) June 13, 2025 The mistake did not have a significant impact on Lowry's fate. By then, he was already 14 over par after a nine-over 79 on Thursday. 'By then, maybe my mind was somewhere else,' he told Sky Sports. 'I still tried. I fought over every shot. That's all you can do, I suppose, on a week like this.' The 38-year-old struggled to hide his frustration on a challenging day. After missing a putt at one point, he exclaimed: 'F*ck this place, F*ck this place.' Golf is hard. Shane Lowry - 'F*ck this place, F*ck this place' - Unique opinion on Oakmont & the 2025 US Open. #USOpen2025 — Matt "Mattie 5" Bellner (@MattBellner) June 13, 2025 Meanwhile, Sam Burns matched the third-best US Open round ever fired at Oakmont, shooting a five-under par 65 to seize a one-stroke lead after Friday's second round as big names struggled. The 28-year-old American made six birdies against a lone bogey to stand on three-under 137 after 36 holes on the punishing layout. The only two US Open rounds at Oakmont lower than Burns's 65 were Johnny Miller's final-round 63 to win in 1973 and a 64 by Loren Roberts in the 1994 third round. American J.J. Spaun made bogeys on three of the last four holes to shoot 72 and stand second on 138 with Norway's Viktor Hovland third on 139 after a 68 — the top trio being the only players under par after 36 holes. Bryson DeChambeau fired a 77 to stand on 150 and miss the cut, the first defending champion to miss the US Open cut since Gary Woodland in 2020. Also missing the cut was six-time US Open runner-up Phil Mickelson, who needed a win to complete a career Grand Slam. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and Spain's Jon Rahm were seven adrift on 144. Scheffler fired a 71 with five bogeys and four birdies. Australian Adam Scott and American Ben Griffin shared fourth on 140. France's Victor Perez aced the par-three sixth hole from 192 yards, hitting the 54th hole-in-one in US Open history but only the second ace at a US Open at Oakmont. Perez shot 70 to stand sixth on 141. Additional reporting by AFP You can view the full leaderboard here

As Mediahuis Ireland reaches 100,000 online subscribers, four reporters reflect on how their roles have evolved
As Mediahuis Ireland reaches 100,000 online subscribers, four reporters reflect on how their roles have evolved

Irish Independent

timean hour ago

  • Irish Independent

As Mediahuis Ireland reaches 100,000 online subscribers, four reporters reflect on how their roles have evolved

To reflect on the milestone, four journalists write about how their work has changed since the Irish Independent's website launched its paywall five years ago. Conor McKeon (Sports journalist) Bob Knight, the legendary American college basketball coach, had an especially dim view of sports writing and its practitioners. 'Most of us learn to write by the second grade and then move on to other things,' he said. The gig has changed, but probably not so much that the now late Knight would reappraise his opinion. The main difference being accountability. Time was the sports section was just the back part of the newspaper, packaged with the serious journalism: crime, politics, celebrity gossip, horoscopes. Like a tub of Quality Street, it was just assumed there was something for everyone. It didn't matter whether you considered your little corner of the paper to be the sought-after caramel cups or the dreaded coffee creams. It was all the one tin. Sold as a single unit. 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Raging McIlroy finds late magic to make cut as Oakmont leaves Lowry at low ebb
Raging McIlroy finds late magic to make cut as Oakmont leaves Lowry at low ebb

Irish Examiner

time2 hours ago

  • Irish Examiner

Raging McIlroy finds late magic to make cut as Oakmont leaves Lowry at low ebb

With the skies about to open above him, Rory McIlroy pulled himself out of the hellish challenge that has been Oakmont these past 48 hours and fired a heavenly closing birdie to make the cut on Friday night. Standing on the 18th tee at 7-over for the year's third major, the cutline moving up and down between +6 and +7, McIlroy knew only a birdie could guarantee his run of six-straight US Open cuts made. With playing partners Shane Lowry and Justin Rose having long since succumbed to the horrors of the Pittsburgh course, his was the only fate to be decided. After a post-Masters run that has defied expectations and, at times, belief, McIlroy found a little bit of vintage magic. How badly he needed it. American Sam Burns had set the pace with a morning 65 which got all the more impressive as Friday progressed in Western Pennsylvania. By nightfall Burns was the outright halfway leader at 3-under, one of just three of the 156 in the field to remain under par. Overnight leader JJ Spaun did his best to cling in there but otherwise those who began in the red felt the creep of the black. Big names joined Lowry and Rose in falling by the wayside too, defending champion Bryson DeChambeau and Ludvig Aberg among them. From start to finish there were crooked scores everywhere and the organisers even found time in the darkening hours for an absurd weather delay which meant a handful of misfortunates have to return on Saturday morning, when rough weather is expected to play a major factor throughout the third round. Friday at Oakmont featured plenty of Irish carnage as Lowry leaned into another expletive-laced reaction to major struggles then picked up an inexplicable penalty stroke while McIlroy tossed a club down the fairway on one hole and later smashed a tee marker for good measure. Birdie for the weekend 🐦@McIlroyRory converts to make it inside the projected cutline @ — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 13, 2025 However on his pivotal final hole of the round the Holywood man composed himself to find his best tee-to-cup performance since his third hole the previous day. A perfect drive set him up for his most sparkling wedge of the week finding the last fraction of a degree of undulation to bring the ball back to just four feet. He rolled in the birdie for a 2-over 72 that in the circumstances may be his best round since Augusta. That's probably an overstatement or a bias towards how he finished it. Because it started in spectacularly hideous fashion, a calamitous double bogey on the first added to with another on the third to push him to 8-over overall and well outside the cut line. From there it was slow progress, in terms of both moment and plain ol actual progress, the pace of play disgracefully slow. He birdied the 9th to turn in brighter form but gave one back on the 11th and laboured a little until another arrived at the 15th. Shane Lowry won't be hanging around and won't be eager to ever discuss his visit to Pittsburgh this time around. A 54-hole leader here in 2016, this was a sequel which proved to be a box office bomb. The Offaly man left with a two-round card that by his high standards looked nothing short of diabolical. He followed up his Thursday 79 with an 8-over 78 to leave the grounds with an ugly +17 to the right of his name on the leaderboard. Below him were just 16 players, a grouping which you wouldn't describe as a golfing who's who but a who's he? Where to start with Lowry's fiendish Friday? How about the fact that on the 14th green he bent to mark his ball and pick it up but forgot to do the first bit. The vision of the slow dawning of what he'd just done, as he stood with ball in hand and marker in pocket was a vision of what the place can do to the best in the game. Lowry so rarely looked like a member of the elite unfortunately. Of all the places to need a fast start, Oakmont may be the last you'd pick. Looking for birdies, Lowry found an opening bogey on the confiding 1st and followed it with a double and two more bogeys before he stepped on to the 5th. He was +14 and wanted to be anywhere else. There was a throwback to his misery at Quail Hollow when he repeated his 'f*** this place' line after that third bogey. His only birdie of the week arrived so late it felt early, on the par-4 7th but there was further woe on the way home, bogeys on 10, the brain fart on 14 and one last bogey on 15. As he congratulated McIlroy for making the cut, Lowry joked and laughed with his friend. 'Rather you than me,' may have been the gist of it. Lowry spoke to the Examiner last week about how hard he has found recent weeks with his wife and children already back in Ireland for the summer. He has one more event before he heads home for six weeks but as he prepares for a weighty return to the Open at Portrush, there can be no hiding the need for work. Lowry's 2025 major season reads as follows: a closing 81 at Augusta to plummet down the field, a missed cut at Quail Hollow and a tie for 138th at an Oakmont course where he was widely expected to contend. Not great. For McIlroy, a wholly unpredictable weekend awaits. As afternoon scores spiked and big names tumbled, some made the point that Scottie Scheffler may have sat at 4-over but in a tie for 23rd, just seven back with only three major wins between him and the lead. McIlroy is just two further back on the course which offers up the least predictability in golf.

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