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RORY McIlroy fought back tears as he defended his Masters title at the weekend – and celebrated with a kiss from glamorous wife Erica Stoll.

The golfing champ, 36, has had an illustrious sporting career – but it’s also his rollercoaster love life that has seen Irishman hit headlines over the years.

Rory shocked the golfing world when it was revealed in May, 2024, that he was filing for divorce from wife Erica after seven years of marriage.

The star submitted a three-page document to a court in Florida detailing his request to file for divorce.

His reps told SunSport: “Rory McIlroy’s communications team confirmed today that a divorce has been filed.

“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.”

The pair, who welcomed their first daughter Poppy in 2020, typically try to keep their relationship as private as possible, but the bombshell news was unavoidable.

The Ryder Cup hero was spotted practicing on the course without his wedding ring on and refused to answer any questions about his love life as he was bombarded by the media ahead of the major.

SWIRLING RUMOURS

Just days after the announcement of Erica and Rory’s looming divorce, rumours started to swirl that the golfer had been involved with someone else.

The Daily Mail claimed that he may be in a blossoming relationship with CBS Sports presenter Amanda Balionis after an interview between the pair sparked rumours online.

It was reported that Rory and Amanda were “the talk of the links” and “left many fans wondering just how close the pair have become”.

The rumours were fuelled by eagle-eyed fans spotting that Balionis, who married a football coach in 2022, hadn’t been wearing her wedding ring for two months.

However, those claims were rubbished when a close source to the two denied there was anything between them to US Weekly, and neither party commented on the conspiracy theories.

DIVORCE U-TURN

Just one month after the divorce announcement, golf fans were baffled when the couple decided to halt their divorce.

Despite Rory’s initial filing claiming that their relationship was “irretrievably broken”, the pair managed to work through their differences and their relationship is now back on track.

The couple reportedly held crisis talks in their £16million Florida home for one month to repair their relationship.

Rory told the Guardian at the time: “There have been rumours about my personal life recently, which is unfortunate. Responding to each rumour is a fool’s game.

“Over the past weeks, Erica and I have realised that our best future was as a family together.

“Thankfully, we have resolved our differences and look forward to a new beginning.”

TEENAGE HEARTBREAK

Rory’s split and reconciliation with Erica isn’t the first time the six-time major winner’s love life has made the headlines.

When Rory burst onto the sporting scene as a fresh faced teenager, he was supported by childhood pal Holly Sweeney.

They got together when he was just 16 after meeting at Hollywood Golf Club.

Rory and Holly, a former Ulster Rugby cheerleader, were on/off for eight years, as he became one of golf’s rising stars.

“She knows me better than basically anyone else in this world does, apart from my parents. And someone like that with you is very grounding,” he revealed in the 2011 documentary, Rory’s Major Breakthrough.

Despite his gushing comments, they split up later that year – with Rory claiming it was “amicable.”

But Holly alleged the golfer had left her for tennis star Caroline Wozniacki.

“It was Rory that ran away with Caroline (Wozniacki) – not the other way around – so I guess I blame Rory, or both of them if I’m totally honest,” she said at the time.

DUMPING OVER THREE-MINUTE CALL

Beginning their romance with these claims wasn’t the ideal start with the Danish tennis beauty Caroline Wozniacki.

They reportedly met at a boxing match, and soon became known as a sporting power couple.

For three years, Caroline was Rory’s biggest champion, and vice versa.

On New Year’s Eve in 2013, they got engaged and jetted off to Monte Carlo to enjoy a five-star romantic break.

Then followed fancy wedding invitations to friends and family, with a date set for the big day.

However, months after popping the question, Rory allegedly dumped Caroline in a three-minute phone call – just months before their nuptials.

Following their break-up, Rory said in a statement in 2014: “The problem is mine. The wedding invitations issued at the weekend made me realise that I wasn’t ready for all that marriage entails.

“I wish Caroline all the happiness she deserves and thank her for the great times we’ve had.”

Rory later declared he found it tough dating someone else who was in the public eye.

He stated: “I thought at the time that being with someone that was in a similar position to you was the obvious answer.

“But it isn’t, because you can never get away from it. You can never detach yourself and try to come back to the real world.”

Caroline has since married former NBA star David Lee, with whom she has three children.

Insiders told MailOnline the golfer doesn’t cling on to a relationship, if he feels it has run its course.

One source claimed: “When he decides it’s over it’s a really clinical decision, he’s not scared of confronting that decision.

“He’s not shy of saying it and dealing with it even if there is overlap with something else, like a major competition or anything else.

“He is ruthless on the golf course and in real life and if he sees that his relationship is going wrong he’s not shy about ending it and moving on.”

MEGHAN MARKLE FLIRTATION

In 2014, Rory was romantically linked with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, who wed Prince Harry in 2018.

The pair flirted in a video shared on social media, as he helped the American actress, who was then starring in Suits, take part in the Ice Bucket Challenge, a viral trend adopted by many celebs to raise money for ALS.

Later Meghan would write about Rory on her now-defunct lifestyle blog, The Tig.

She gushed: “He is a force who has the propensity to actually work hard and play hard, relishing intense practices to substantiate his title, embracing nights of sipping Opus One (his bold and impressive choice of wine) and indulging in group dinners at Cipriani for the balance, of course.

“And yet, beyond his work/play ethic, the most endearing quality of this man is his character, as real and honest as they come, appreciating a simple smile, never shunning a fan photo, enjoying a plate of pasta with veal ragu, and expressing a love for his parents that is rarely seen in men his age.

“Or at any age, to be honest. He is not just the real deal… he is real. And perhaps that is what makes him even more cherished.”

Despite romance rumours, in 2018, the Irish Mirror reported the pair were “never more than friends.”

MARRIAGE MOMENT

Rory and American beauty Erica first met in 2011 when she was working for PGA at the Ryder Cup as manager of Championship Volunteer Operations.

A year later, the Northern Irishman was famously late to the course after his alarm failed to go off.

Erica was the person who arranged for a police escort for Rory, allowing him to tee off on time as Team Europe completed the “Miracle at Medinah”.

Soon after Rory split with Caroline, he began seeing Erica, and within eight months, they got engaged in the City of Love, Paris.

In 2017, the pair walked down the aisle at the five-star Ashford Castle on Ireland’s west coast.

Stevie Wonder and Ed Sheeran provided the entertainment, according to E!

Rory gushed Erica to the Irish Independent in 2017, saying: “I can be myself around her.

“I love that (she) knows everything about me, and there was no judgment there. There was no judgment from day one, which is huge, because that’s very hard to find for someone in my position.”

He added to the paper: “I feel in such a good place now. I don’t feel Erica wants to change me in any way. I can be myself around her. There’s no bulls**t, no acting, no show.”

Three years later, the married couple welcomed daughter Poppy into the world at Jupiter Medical Center in Florida.

Rory himself has admitted to being “a pretty selfish person” for “a long time”, and his single-minded focus has seen him become one of golf’s most successful players, amassing a £200 million fortune.

But after the birth of daughter in 2000 he has insisted his outlook has changed.

Rory shared: “I grew up as an only child and an only child playing golf so I feel like the whole world revolved around me for a long time, and now it doesn’t.

“It revolves around this little person that came into the world a few weeks ago, and it’s a nice change.”