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Rory McIlroy will attempt to secure the fifth major championship of his career at the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville this week, and he’ll be competing just a few days after he filed for divorce from his wife of seven years.
It looked like Xander Schauffele was going to give Rory McIlroy a run for his money during the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship last week, but the Northern Irishman kicked things into high gear on the back nine to secure the 40th win of his professional career prior to turning his attention to the PGA Championship.
The victory proved McIlroy wasn’t distracted by the drama we were treated to after his seemingly imminent return to the PGA Tour policy board was blocked by fellow golfers (specifically—and purportedly—Patrick Cantlay, Tiger Woods, and Jordan Spieth) who voted against his reinstatement. However, that’s apparently not the only issue he’s been dealing with.
According to TMZ, McIlroy filed for divorce from his wife Erica (nee Stoll) in a Florida court on Monday a little more than seven years after they tied the knot in a ceremony in Ireland.
They initially met during the Ryder Cup in 2012 (Erica was a PGA of America employee at the time) before entering into a romantic relationship after McIlroy called off his engagement with former fiancée and tennis star Caroline Wozniacki in 2014.
Rory and Erica got engaged in 2015 before getting married in 2017, and in 2020, they welcomed their daughter Poppy (their only child) into the world.
McIlroy heads into the PGA Championship with the second-best odds to win at +700 (Scottie Scheffler is unsurprisingly the favorite at +375), and when you consider he presumably had already decided to file for divorce while competing at the Wells Fargo Championship, it’s safe to assume he’ll be able to compartmentalize his personal life while competing this week.
He hasn’t commented on the development as of this writing (the PGA of America called off Tuesday’s media session due to inclement weather), but it’s safe to assume he’ll have the chance to address it on Wednesday.