Pro golfer Rory McIlroy and Erica Stoll‘s divorce wasn’t a shock to everyone, an insider tells Us Weekly.
“A point of contention in Rory’s marriage with Erica was that Erica was lonely in their marriage,” a source tells Us. “Rory was a hard person to be married to.”
McIlroy, 35, filed to end his and Stoll’s marriage after seven years together earlier this month, Us confirmed. The pair married in April 2017 and share daughter Poppy, 3.
The insider tells Us that parenthood altered Stoll’s priorities, particularly when it came to being on the road. “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 adds. “Erica was usually absent for most of his tournaments and was really focused on Poppy.”
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Ultimately, McIlroy and Still were “were living very different lives the last two years with him being on the road, and eventually she had a breaking point,” the source says.
The athlete broke his silence on the split on Tuesday, May 14, one day after his split first made headlines. “Rory McIlroy’s communications team confirmed today that a divorce has been filed,” a spokeswoman for McIlroy told The Irish Star. “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.”
Stoll and McIlroy met in 2012 at the Ryder Cup when McIlroy was dating tennis player Caroline Wozniacki. The exes were together for three years before McIlroy called off their engagement in 2014, and he started seeing Stoll shortly after.
A source close to Wozniacki, 33, told Us last week that she “wants no part of his drama.”
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“Rory was the last straw for Caroline when it came to men,” the source explained. “She always wanted a nice home and family life. An under-the-radar existence with family. That’s not Rory.”
The golfer did not comment on his divorce as he hit the green at the PGA Championship days later.
“Getting inside the ropes for that four or five hours or whatever it is a day, it’s a nice escape from everything else that’s going on in the world of golf,” McIlroy said at a Sunday, May 12, press conference when asked about the PGA Tour Board. “I don’t mind it. I’ve always been able to compartmentalize pretty well. I seem to, for whatever reason, play very good golf whenever I have a lot of stuff going on.”
He ultimately lost to Xander Schauffele by a landslide on Sunday, May 19.
Reporting by Amanda Williams
