Welcome To The Amazing World of Erica Stoll
From working behind the scenes at the PGA of America, to now soaking up all the excitements that come with the global limelight, the story of Rory Mcllroy’s wife, Erica Stoll is one that can melt any heart.
Born and raised in New York, Erica Stoll has steadily gained global recognition over the years all thanks to her superstar golfer husband, Mcllroy.
While Mcllroy has always been in the spotlight right from his early years as a professional golfer, his partner Stoll had, up until 2012, been operating below the radar in her role as the Manager of the Championship Volunteer Operations for the PGA.
Mcllroy entered the golf stardom as one of the brightest prospects of the sport. Indeed, during the early portions of his pro career, he was touted as the golden boy of golf, one who will hold the torch of the sport and carry it all over the world.
Now at 32, the Northern Irish man is unarguably in the class of the most accomplished golfers. Even though the future may not appear as bright as it was 12 years ago, with his wife Erica Stoll by his side, Rory can comfortably look forward to greater things to come.
Who is Erica Stoll?
For a famous character like Erica Stoll, you’d assume that details about her personal life would be a public item. However, among other things that the model is adept at, keeping certain aspects of her life private is up there.
For instance, controversy around her age and actual place of birth still lingers. While some accounts have claimed that Erica Stoll was born in Rochester, others have argued that she hailed from Irondequoit, although both in New York City.
Also, her actual date of birth has continued to be a topic of speculation, the conflicting dates of September 10, 1987 and 1988 have been bandied around. While Stoll has continued to be tight lipped regarding that, the seeming reality is that she’s slightly older than her husband.
Mcllroy has also testified to how much his wife cherishes her private life.
In an interview with The Independent prior to getting married, the golfer said: “Erica has been around me quite a lot at tournaments but we have really just tried to keep it low key. She is a very low key person, not the kind to broadcast stuff, but that side of my life is really good just now. We are excited, our parents are excited, so it is a really happy time.”
Stoll’s parents gave birth to two daughters, Erica and Natalie Stoll. Erica’s father and grandfather taught her how to sail when she was a child, and has been an avid sailor since then.
She relocated to Palm Beach Garden, Florida along with her family when she was a teenager, and enjoyed the relaxing lifestyle there.
Stoll has an active social media presence, even though all her accounts are private and only accessible to people in her inner circle.
In her free time, she enjoys baking, and this also reflects massively in her attachment with PGA. Every year, she bakes cookies in the color of the PGA and shares on her private social media accounts. Erica is a huge fan of the American dating reality show, ‘The Bachelor’ and has a pet dog whose name is Miss Lilly Belle.
Erica Stoll’s Rise To Stardom
Prior to meeting her husband, Erica had kept a quiet life as a professional working for the PGA America and this continued years into their relationship.
However, the intense media furore that trailed Mcllroy’s public break up with his then-fiancee, Danish professional tennis player, Caroline Wozniacki, in May 2014 beamed the limelight on Stoll.
As soon as the press got wind of a love relationship between the pair in 2015, tabloids started digging for every detail they could possibly unearth about Erica and Rory’s bussing romance.
However, Erica left her job shortly after she hooked up with Rory, and now travels regularly with him. She has been spotted at different tournaments all over the world cheering her husband on from the sidelines.
Even though she has constantly stated that she’s not interested in being in the limelight, Stoll now regularly appears on news reports and gossip media alongside her husband at various golf events.
You can say Rory’s worldwide fame as a pro golfer has made his wife become a famous figure among golf fans and followers.
How Erica and Mcllroy’s Interesting Relationship All Started
The circumstances that led to the first meeting between Erica Stoll and Rory Mcllroy is hilarious and somewhat embarrassing all at the same time.
The couple met back in September 2012 when Erica was still working as an employee of the PGA America. Rory had traveled to Medinah, Illinois, as one of the participants in the Ryder Cup competition.
Erica, who alongside her colleague, Maggie Budzar were the transport officials who coordinated shuttle services to the Ryder Cup venue, saved her future husband from what could have been a huge embarrassing episode.
The golfer had almost missed his tee time after he overslept in his hotel room 11 miles away from Medinah, no thanks to a bad mix up with the time schedule.
Thankfully, it was his future wife who had noticed that he was still at the hotel and stepped in to save his blushes just at the right moment.
She had initially offered to drive him to the golf course, but later arranged for a policeman to escort Rory with flashlight on for faster travel, as he was only 30 minutes before tee off time.
“I was panicking, I really was,” McIlroy told the New York Times in 2014. “Because it wasn’t just me that was going to have the disappointment of showing up late, it was 11 other guys on the team and the captain and the vice captains. So it was a pretty scary moment.”
Luckily for Rory, he managed to arrive at the course just 10 minutes before his match against his opponent, Keegan Bradley whom he eventually defeated to secure the victory for his team.
Stoll and Mcllroy immediately became friends following that incident. It was reported that the two shared a street-filled chat as they journeyed to Medinah.
Erica Stoll’s Marriage
Rory and Erica started dating after the former ditched his then-fiancee, Caroline Wozniacki, in a move that sent a shocking wave across the sporting worlds.
The British golfer and Danish tennis star had dated for some time before they eventually engaged her on New Year’s Eve in 2013. Rory publicly broke off the engagement in May of 2014 after wedding invites were already sent out.
His reason was that he had suddenly realized that he wasn’t ready for marriage yet. He and Erica reportedly started dating sometime in 2015 which prompted tabloids to speculate whether she played any role in Rory’s separation from Caroline.
Regardless of the insinuations, the duo’s love affair grew rapidly and by December of 2015, reports had it that the two had already become engaged after Rory proposed to Erica with a ring during a romantic getaway in Paris.
The couple walked down the aisle on April 22, 2017. The wedding, which had in attendance renowned guests from the fields of sport and entertainment, was held at one of the biggest hotels in Ireland, the Ashford Castle in Cong, County Mayo.
Other guests at the wedding include musicians like Coldplay’s lead vocalist Chris Martin and One Direction’s singer-songwriter Niall Horan, as well as golfers Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley.
Legendary soul singer, Stevie Wonder was flown in to serenade guests at the star-filled event, which reportedly gulped about $1.1m and the couple subsequently jetted off to Canouan Island in St. Vincent and The Grenadines for a nice honeymoon.
Erica Stoll’s Kid
Erica and her husband were blessed with a child three years after tying the knots. Rory announced the birth of their daughter, Poppy Kennedy McIlroy, born on the 31st August 2020.
The golfer, who could not contain his happiness over the new chapter of his life, shared a photo of baby Poppy’s little hand clutching his finger on Instagram.
He wrote “Poppy Kennedy McIlroy, born August 31st, 12:15pm. She is the absolute love of our lives.
“Mother and baby are doing great. Massive thank you to all the staff at Jupiter Medical Center and Dr Sasha Melendy for their amazing care.”
