How Rory McIlroy 'let estranged wife Erica Stoll know he was divorcing her'

Rory McIlroy did not inform estranged wife Erica Stoll that he intended to divorce her in person, according to a report. 

The PGA Tour star filed to divorce Stoll following seven years of marriage just 24 hours after winning the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

However, it has now emerged that the four-time major winner hired a private investigator to serve the divorce papers to Stoll at their family home. 

Stoll, a New York state native, was served the legal documents by Carl Woods - a Palm Beach police officer, who also runs a process serving business, CW Services & Associates, according to court documents obtained by the Belfast Telegraph. 

Woods turned up unannounced at the McIlroys' lavish $22million marital mansion in Jupiter, Florida at 10.30am ET on May 13 and handed Stoll a copy of McIlroy's divorce petition.

The summons describe Stoll as being white with blonde hair, in her 30s, thin, and standing between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-8 in height. 

The four-time major winner signed the divorce papers digitally on May 9 while competing at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, which he went on to win beating Xander Schauffele by five shots, according to court records. 

Stoll, who shares a three-year-old daughter Poppy with the professional golfer, has 20 days to file a written response to the petition with the circuit court clerk from the day she was served, according to the documents.

'A phone call will not protect you,' the summons read. 'Your written response, including the case number given above and the names of the parties, must be filed if you want the court to hear your side of the case.

'If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case, and your wages, money and property may thereafter be taken without further warning from the court.

'There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may call an attorney referral service or a legal aid office (listed in the phone book.'

As of May 26, when the Belfast Telegraph published its report, Stoll had yet to respond. 

Court documents filed in Palm Beach County on May 13 and obtained by DailyMail.com state that their marriage was 'irretrievably broken'.

The petition for divorce also states that the pair had signed a prenuptial agreement. However, the details of the arrangement have not been divulged. 

McIlroy's attorney was listed as Thomas Sasser, the same attorney who represented Tiger Woods when his wife divorced him in 2010.

The filing also calls for shared custody and a parenting plan to be established for Poppy.

McIlroy and Stoll married in 2017 and share daughter Poppy, who they welcomed in 2020. 

McIlroy, whose career earnings on the PGA Tour total nearly $87million, first met New York state native Erica during the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah in Illinois, at which she was working for the PGA of America. 

He has previously credited the American with helping him make his tee time at Medinah - thanks to a police escort - after he missed his alarm. 

He went on to win his match over Keegan Bradley as part of what was later hailed as the 'miracle at Medinah'.

Despite initially meeting at the Ryder Cup that year, it wasn't until a few years later that the pair would enter a relationship

A few months after calling off his engagement with tennis star Caroline Wozniacki in 2014, McIlroy and Stoll got together before getting engaged a year later. 

The golfer is said to have dumped his then-fiancée Wozniacki in a three-minute phone call hours after telling her he loved her. Their split came in May 2014, before they were due to marry in November.

McIlroy's breakup with Wozniacki came days before the BMW PGA Championship in England, which he went on to win. At the same event the previous year, he tied for 96th place. 

It is an eerily similar pattern for the golfer, who won his 26th tournament on the PGA Tour, with his fourth Wells Fargo Championship victory in another dominant performance amid filing for divorce. 

Two weeks before, he scooped yet another trophy for his cabinet, winning the Zurich Classic alongside pal and Ryder Cup teammate, Irishman Shane Lowry, with the duo celebrating their triumph with an impromptu rendition of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing'. 

Erica has regularly been spotted supporting her PGA husband at his tournaments, including the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome where she wowed in a stunning, strapless black gown on the Spanish Steps. 

She was also on McIlroy's bag for the Masters Par-3 competition with their daughter Poppy in 2023. However, the McIlroy family were notably absent from the traditional, annual event. 

Erica grew up in New York and graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2008 with a marketing degree. She went on to work for the Professional Golf Association of America.

She was seen at The Players in March when the PGA Tour shared a heartwarming clip of she and Poppy greeting McIlroy on the 18th green. 

The golfer was seen scooping his daughter into his arms for a hug with Erica telling him they had been watching his birdie-birdie finish. 

And Erica was also seen supporting Rory throughout the second series of Netflix series Full Swing, which documented the 2023 PGA Tour.

Scenes showed her cooling Rory off during an outburst and giving him a kiss as Team Europe took the lead in last year's Ryder Cup.

After becoming a mother, Stoll is said to have thrown herself into parenthood, making Poppy her priority, especially when hit came to McIlroy's PGA Tour lifestyle on the road. 

'A point of contention in Rory's marriage with Erica was that Erica was lonely in their marriage,' an insider told Us Weekly . 'Rory was a hard person to be married to.'

The source close to the couple also revealed that their marriage had hit 'breaking point'.

'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 added.

'Erica was usually absent for most of his tournaments and was really focused on Poppy.'