McIlroy’s “gut-wrenching” loss came days after he and his wife Erica Stoll called off their divorce
Rory McIlroy announced Monday that he plans to take “a few weeks away” from golf after losing at the U.S. Open this past weekend on the final hole.
“Yesterday was a tough day, probably the toughest I’ve had in my nearly 17 years as a professional golfer,” McIlroy, 35, said in a statement on X.
“As I said at the start of the tournament, I feel closer to winning my next major championship than I ever have,” he added. “The one word that I would describe my career as is resilient.”
McIlroy then announced: “I’m going to take a few weeks away from the game to process everything and build myself back up for my defense of the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open at Royal Troon. See you in Scotland.”
McIlroy led for much of the day on Sunday as he sought his first major tournament championship since 2014 but missed key putts on the 16th and 18th holes that allowed Bryson DeChambeau to overtake the lead and win the tournament. In his statement, McIlroy pointed out the missed putts and said he’ll “rue a few things over the course of the tournament,” including those two shots.
BBC described McIlroy’s loss as a “meltdown,” while USA Today described it as a “collapse.” ESPN summed up McIlroy’s weekend as “gut-wrenching.”
The Northern Irish golfer’s loss also came amid a tumultuous few weeks for him and his family. Days before the U.S. Open, McIlroy and his wife Erica Stoll announced they were calling off their divorce and would work to continue their seven-year marriage.
“Over the past weeks, Erica and I have realized that our best future was as a family together,” McIlroy said in a statement to The Guardian last week. “Thankfully, we have resolved our differences and look forward to a new beginning.”
The couple initially filed for divorce in May, shocking those close to them in their Florida community. Last month a source said that members in the exclusive Bear’s Club golf course, where McIlroy plays in Jupiter, Fla., “are talking about this and wondering what happened.”
McIlroy is “so private that there wasn’t a lot of speculation concerning his family life,” the source explains, adding, “We are wondering what happened.”
However, Mcllroy and Stoll, 36, made efforts to show their family’s strength this week when the couple was spotted taking their daughter Poppy to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Fla., on Monday, according to TMZ. The couple were both seen with their wedding bands on for the first time since announcing their initial plans to divorce back in May.
