Rory McIlroy makes feelings clear after Erica Stoll divorce filing ahead of PGA Championship

Posted by Admin May 16, 2024 Golf

Rory McIlroy has made it clear he’s ready to play at the PGA Championship, despite his recent split from wife Erica Stoll.

McIlroy filed for divorce earlier this week, with paperwork saying their relationship was ‘irretrievably broken’.

He will now set his sights on winning the PGA Championship, with the Northern-Irishman eager to secure a first major in a decade.

McIlroy appears to be regaining form, having recently triumphed at the Wells Fargo Championship.

Rory McIlroy has said he’s ready to play at the PGA Championship this week

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Some fans are worried that his personal life could be a distraction as he looks to end his decade-long wait for a major.

Yet McIlroy, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday night, has made his feelings abundantly clear.

“I’m ready to play,” he said.

It was clear McIlroy was in no mood to discuss his split from Stoll, with the couple previously wedding back in 2017.

They have a three-year-old child together, Poppy Kennedy McIlroy, who was born in 2020.

But McIlroy is confident he’s got what it takes to end his drought, with the 35-year-old admitting he ‘feels good’ as he prepares to tee off.

“I feel good,” McIlroy said.

“Obviously had a great day on Sunday at a golf course that I’ve grown to love over the years and had a lot of success at, coming to a venue where I’ve had some success at before as well.

“Obviously get to go back to Quail Hollow every year. Don’t really get to come back here too much.

“Today was the first time I was on the golf course since 10 years ago, so it was good to refamiliarise myself with the place.

“The golf course is a little different than it was 10 years ago, a little longer.

“A couple little minor changes but for the most part pretty much the same that I can remember.

“Game feels good coming off the back of two wins, a fun one in New Orleans with Shane (Lowry) and then a really good performance last week. Just trying to keep the momentum going.

“Some of the shots that I hit last week, some of the three-quarter shots, some of the wedge shots, some of the iron shots, combined with how good I feel with the driver at the minute, that obviously gives me a lot of confidence.”

European players have a poor record in the event, with Americans recently dominating the Wanamaker Trophy.

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And McIlroy has admitted it’s tough to explain why they struggle so much.

“If you think of quintessential American golf, I think golf courses that we go to for the PGA Championship are usually somewhat like these,” he said.

“I would say Kiawah was a little bit different, or maybe even somewhere like Southern Hills a couple years ago.

“But I don’t know if I can put my finger on it.

“It’s the same thing. I think G-Mac (Graeme McDowell) in 2010 was the first European player to win the US Open since Jacklin in 1970. These things are cyclical.

Rory McIlroy and Erica Stoll previously married back in 2014

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“I don’t know if I can put my finger on it but it’s a big golf course, thick rough, soft-ish greens.

“That seems to be more of an American style of play.”