‘I CAN TELL HER ANYTHING’ Rory McIlroy talks about how he met fiancee Erica Stoll… and why he ended his engagement to Caroline Wozniacki
That personal contentment, however, came after a very public break-up with his ex, former tennis world No 1 Wozniacki.
But looking ahead to his rumoured wedding date after the Masters in April, McIlroy told the Irish Sunday Independent what it is he loves about Erica – aside from the fact she got him to the 2012 Ryder Cup first tee on time for his crucial singles match after he missed his alarm.
McIlroy, who has pulled out of this week’s Abu Dhabi championship with a rib injury, said: “The thing I love about it is that we were friends before anything romantic happened.
“We met when she was working for the PGA of America, and renting a condo in Palm Beach, and I found it refreshing being with someone who was living a normal life rather than, ‘Oh! My jets is 30 minutes late!’
“I could speak to her about anything, we ended up spending a bit of time together and realised that there was something more there.
“I love that she knows everything about me, and there was no judgement there.
“There was no judgement from day one, which is huge, because that’s very hard to find for someone in my position.
But before meeting Erica, four-time Major champ McIlroy, 27, travelled the world with then-fiancee Wozniacki.
He stated that they fell in love because they had so much in common being at the top of their respective sports.
The relationship lasted from 2011 to 2014 before McIlroy broke it all off after the wedding invites had been sent off and just before the start of that year’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
He went onto to win that week and then captured the Open and US PGA later that year.
