EXCLUSIVE: Rory McIlroy and Erica Stoll’s holiday statement after fast Open exit sums up their marriage
Rory McIlroy had a week to forget after missing the cut at The Open Championship at Royal Troon, but he is making up for lost time with his wife Erica Stoll and their daughter, Poppy.
The family jetted out of Prestwick Airport early on Saturday morning after an error-strewn two days on the Ayrshire links, which culminated with McIlroy shooting 11-over-par across 36 holes and missing the cut by six strokes.
His Gulfstream private jet flew to Faro, where they headed for Almancil on the Algarve. The family have been pictured enjoying some fun in the sun, with the Ulsterman, 35, going topless at the beach after a dip in the sea to cool off. Three-year-old Poppy does not appear in the pictures, but Stoll appears to be holding a child’s hand.
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McIlroy and Stoll’s public appearance as a family in the Algarve is the clearest statement yet that their marriage is firmly back on track after it appeared they would be going their separate ways just a couple of months ago. McIlroy stunned the golf world in May when he announced that he and Stoll were ending their seven years of marriage and seeking a divorce, with their relationship “irretrievably broken”.
The news emerged just days before the PGA Championship at Valhalla, where McIlroy was hotly tipped to contend for the Wannamaker Trophy but fell short with a tie for 12th place. Yet by the time he teed it up at the next major on the schedule – the US Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina – McIlroy issued a statement confirming the couple had reconciled.
“There have been rumours about my personal life recently, which is unfortunate,” he told The Guardian. “Responding to each rumour is a fool’s game.
