Rory McIlroy was put on blast for leaving his wife, Erica Stoll, out of his emotional Masters victory speech after they called off their divorce.
The Irish golfer accepted the trophy for his first Masters win and thanked those who have supported him as his spouse watched from the crowd at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia Sunday.
“Last but certainly not least, over to my left, my family, my team,” McIlroy said while holding back his tears. “They’ve been on this journey with me the whole way through.”
“They know the burden that I’ve carried to come here every year and try and try and try again,” the athlete, 35, added.
McIlroy then turned to his and Stoll’s 4-year-old daughter, saying “The one thing I’d say to my daughter, Poppy, over there is, ‘Never give up on your dreams.’”
He continued, “‘Keep coming back. Keep working hard and if you put your mind to it, you can do anything.’ Love you.”
The toddler was seated alongside Stoll, 37, however McIlroy declined to mention his wife.
Several people criticized the champion for omitting Stoll from his speech, with one user writing, “Love the shout-out to his daughter … would’ve been nice if he acknowledged his wife.
“Sorry, but after the divorce back and forth it would have been something he could have done.”
“What about his wife for real?” another added, while a third chimed in, “You mean the family that he tried to abandon?”
“Weird that not once in the entire post-round interviews did he mention his wife by name,” a fourth mentioned.
“Wait a second, isn’t this the same guy that sent divorce papers to his wife while he was at a golf tournament???? Yeah that’s a stand up family man right there. COWARD!” another critic wrote.
McIlroy filed for divorce from Stoll in May 2024 after seven years of marriage, citing that the union was “irretrievably broken.”
That same month, Mcllroy was rumored to be dating sports reporter Amanda Balionis.
However, McIlroy and Stoll’s separation was short-lived; he dismissed the divorce in June 2024.
The post Rory McIlroy blasted for snubbing wife Erica Stoll in Masters victory speech: ‘Stand up family man’ appeared first on Page Six.
