Rory McIlroy expressed his admiration for his wife, Erica Stoll, in the wake of the heckling she was subject to over the weekend by virtue of being associated with him.
As McIlroy was endlessly heckled at the 2025 Ryder Cup, where he helped Team Europe beat Team USA 15-13, Stoll received a similar bout of intense taunting, and on Saturday, one audience member even threw a beer can at her.
McIlroy filed for divorce from Stoll in May 2024, but called off the divorce in June, telling The Guardian the couple had resolved their “differences.”
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Asked his feelings about his family being verbally assaulted while he was playing on Sunday, McIlroy said, “[Family] should be off limits, but obviously it wasn’t this week.”
“Erica is fine,” he said. “She is a very strong woman, and she handled everything this week with class and poise and dignity like she always has. I love her and we’re going to have a good time celebrating tonight.“
Frequently subject to merciless teasing as one of the biggest targets on Team Europe, McIlroy condemned the foul language and behavior of the audience over the weekend.
“I don’t think we should ever accept that in golf… I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week. Golf has the ability to unite people. Golf teaches you very good life lessons.”
During Team Europe’s press conference, Milroy’s teammate, Justin Rose, also commended Stoll for her composed reaction to the crowd’s jeering.
“I actually had no idea that Erica had a beer thrown at her yesterday, so fair play to Erica. She didn’t bring that to the team room. We didn’t make that a big deal. That is news to me which that says a lot about the strength of Erica and everybody on this team.”
McIlroy’s close friend, Shane Lowry, additionally commented on the harassment Stoll received, saying, “I was out there for two days, and I’m not gonna lie, the amount of abuse she received was astonishing — And the way she was out there supporting her husband and supporting her team was unbelievable…And kudos to her for that.”
