Who Is Rory McIlroy's Wife? All About Erica Stoll

Jared C. Tilton/Getty

Rory McIlroy is continuing to maintain his status as one of the top professional golfers in the world.

The Ireland-born pro has won 20 PGA Tour victories over the course of his career, and is one of only 3 golfers to hold the number one spot on the Official World Golf Ranking for over 100 weeks.

Throughout his professional triumphs, McIlroy has had his wife, Erica Stoll, right by his side. The couple met at the 2012 Ryder Cup and got married in 2017. They welcomed a daughter, Poppy Kennedy, together in 2020.

Aside from being a mother and her husband's biggest supporter, Stoll maintains a pretty low-profile. So, what else is there to know about the pro golfer's other half?

Here's everything to know about Mcllroy's wife, Stoll.

She's from New York

Kevin C. Cox/Getty

Stoll is originally from Irondequoit, New York, and was an avid tennis player in high school, according to the Democrat and Chronicle. After high school, Stoll enrolled at the Rochester Institute of Technology and graduated with a degree in marketing in 2008.

She shares a birthday with Arnold Palmer

Rory McIlroy Instagram

Ironically, Stoll shares a birthday — September 10 — with golf legend Arnold Palmer. On his wife's birthday in 2019, McIlroy gave a shout-out to both his life partner and his role model on Instagram.

He captioned the post, "September 10th... a special day for 2 very important people in my life. My wife Erica and Arnold Palmer share a birthday today. They never got to have the joint party they talked about having a few years ago. Arnold would have been 90 today and Erica is, well... much, much younger! They have both taught me so much and made me a better man. I cherished every moment I got to spend with Arnold and I cherish the life I get to spend with Erica. Happy Birthday guys!!"

She used to work for the PGA

Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty

Stoll previously worked for the PGA of America — a job she knew she wanted straight out of college. "The way PGA employees present themselves is so admirable and professional. That's the kind of job I want, and it's doing something I love," she told the Democrat and Chronicle in 2008.

During her time with the organization, Stoll served as an office manager and the manager of championship volunteer operations.

She first met Mcllroy in 2012 at the Ryder Cup

David Cannon/Getty Rory McIlroy and wife Erica

Stoll met McIlroy in 2012 at the Ryder Cup, where she had been working as a PGA transport official. After McIlroy overslept due to a time zone mixup and nearly missed his tee time, Stoll helped him out by getting him a police escort to the course in Medinah, Illinois.

McIlory later recalled first meeting Stoll during a 2019 interview on the Golf Channel.

"Erica that week was always the one that was checking us in and out. She was there at transportation, so she was always in the car park over there. But yeah, it's still cool to look around and think about that week, and obviously everything that's happened since then. It's pretty cool," he said.

She and McIlroy were just friends at first 

KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty

Stoll and McIlroy became friends after their initial meeting, but things didn't turn romantic until 2014. The golf pro had been dating tennis player Caroline Wozniacki when he first met Stoll. McIlroy and Wozniacki got engaged on New Year's Eve in 2013 but broke things off a few months later.

Stoll and McIlroy officially started dating in late 2014, but the two kept their relationship quiet and didn't make many public appearances as a couple at the start.

In May 2015, McIlroy spoke to the Times of London about his new romance. At the time, he and Stoll had been dating for a little more than six months.

"I am very happy in my love life. We haven't really been putting it out there. She is from America, which is why I like to spend time in Palm Beach … The past six or seven months have been really nice. That part of my life is going great," McIlroy said.

McIlroy proposed to her in Paris

McIlroy wanted to propose to Stoll in Paris, though the 2015 terrorist attack in the city nearly caused the golfer to cancel the trip.

"We had planned to go to Paris since May, we were always going to go. Then what happened made us unsure what we were going to do. So we decided to go and if we didn't like it, if we didn't like the mood of the place, didn't feel comfortable, we would go somewhere else," he told the Independent.

After arriving, however, McIlroy decided to go through with his proposal as planned.

"We felt comfortable but I still thought at least at the start of the trip, it might make the rest of the trip even better. So we went out for dinner and that was that. It was a nice trip, a nice way to end the year," he recalled.

She and McIlroy got married in 2017

Rory McIlroy Instagram

On April 22, 2017, Stoll and McIlroy exchanged vows during a lavish ceremony at Ashford Castle in County Mayo, Ireland.

According to E! News, the wedding had very tight security and included several A-list celebrity guests from Stevie Wonder to actor Jamie Dornan.

She stays out of the spotlight

Stoll does her best to keep her personal life out of the tabloids, and although she has an Instagram account, she keeps it private.

Shortly after getting engaged, McIlroy spoke about Stoll's desire to stay out of the spotlight during an interview with the Irish Independent.

"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," he told the outlet.

Although there was plenty of buzz surrounding McIlroy and Stoll's 2017 wedding, the two managed to keep details quiet.

"He's obviously one of the world's best golfers and a huge celebrity in Ireland, but Erica very much keeps herself to herself and she's not into being out there at all and I think that's the way they wanted to keep the wedding, so fair play to them," professional golfer Shane Lowry told the Irish Independent of the couple's nuptials.

Full Swing — a Netflix docuseries starring McIlroy — premiered in February 2023. But the pro golfer only agreed to participate in the project after production agreed to his filming stipulations.

"I made sure that the parameters were very much like, look, you can film me at — you're not coming to my house, you're not coming in my car, you're not coming anywhere near my family, but you want to do some stuff with me at golf tournaments, totally fine," he told the Golf Channel.

She became a mom in August 2020

Maddie Meyer/Getty

Stoll and McIlroy were able to keep the news of their pregnancy a secret for several months. In fact, McIlroy didn't confirm that they were expecting a baby until Stoll was well into her third trimester.

"We're about to be parents very soon, so we're obviously super excited. Yeah, we've been sharing the news with friends and family, obviously, but I didn't think it was something that I really particularly needed to share out here. It's a private matter, but we're really excited and can't wait for her to get here," McIlroy said during a post-round interview on NBC, per Golfweek.

Stoll gave birth to daughter Poppy Kennedy McIlroy on Aug. 31, 2020, in Jupiter, Florida.  McIlroy announced the news on Instagram and shared a black-and-white photo of Poppy clutching his pinky finger. He captioned it, "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."