Rory McIlroy’s ‘reckless’ behavior destroyed Caroline Wozniacki relationship — and his marriage barely survived it

The same behavior that led to Rory McIlroy calling it quits with Caroline Wozniacki nearly shattered his marriage with Erica Stoll.

Golf journalist Alan Shipnuck explores McIlroy’s relationships in his new book, “Rory: The Heartache and Triumph of Golf’s Most Human Superstar,” which releases Tuesday, two days before the start of The Masters and a year after McIlroy, 36, captured his elusive first green jacket to complete a career grand slam.

Shipnuck recounts how McIlroy and Stoll, a PGA of America employee at the time, met in 2012 at the Ryder Cup, and she helped get him a police escort because he was running late.

But gossip quickly spread about McIlroy flirting with Stoll, despite being in a relationship with Wozniacki.

“He was throwing every ounce of game he had at Erica,” one employee says in the book, according to the Daily Mail. “It was not subtle. It became a running joke among a few of us: Has Rory closed the deal yet?”

Group chats among staffers described McIlroy as “smitten” and were full of “winking emojis.”

McIlroy and Wozniacki got engaged in December 2013 but the golfer broke things off five months later. McIlroy and Stoll were said to have begun dating a few months afterward, though they didn’t go public until 2015.

Stoll is described in the book as “quiet by nature” by former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, who says, “it can’t be easy being Rory’s wife,” as McIlroy has a “big personality.”

Shipnuck calls Stoll “neo-Elin,” referring to Tiger Woods’ ex-wife Elin Nordegren, for “never doing interview and remaining unknown to the golf public.”

Stoll often stayed home as rumors swirled in 2024 about McIlroy and CBS golf reporter Amanda Balionis being “the talk of the links,” as the Daily Mail reported at the time.

Those close to the two insisted to Shipnuck that their relationship never became romantic.

But perhaps McIlroy’s reputation played a role in the speculation. And as those rumors spread, McIlroy filed for divorce from Stoll in May 2024, claiming their marriage was “irretrievably broken.”

Just a month later, McIlroy called off the divorce, telling the Guardian that the couple “realized that our best future was as a family together.” They share a 5-year-old daughter, Poppy.

The sudden about-face was an indictment of McIlroy’s personality, according to Shipnuck.

“The short-lived divorce proceedings and hasty reconciliation said more about him than her,” he writes, per the Daily Mail.

“If you are an internationally famous athlete heading toward becoming a billionaire, it is probably unwise to file for divorce unless you are one million percent certain there is zero chance to save the marriage.

“But McIlroy’s life has been defined by impetuousness, on the golf course and in matters of business and romance. The recklessness is part of what makes him appealing.”

Stoll was by McIlroy’s side when he won at Augusta last year, and again at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in September, when the couple were heckled and a drink was swatted at Stoll.

McIlroy this week is looking to become the first golfer to repeat as Masters champion since Woods did it in 2001 and ’02.

Woods is out this week after his March 27 DUI arrest, and he left the country to seek treatment due to privacy concerns. His private jet landed in Switzerland on Friday.