LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Rory McIlroy has filed for divorce from his wife, Erica Stoll. Golfweek confirmed the news via online court records in Palm Beach County, Florida, as did McIlroy’s communications team.
In a statement to Golfweek, McIlroy’s team stressed Rory’s desire to ensure this difficult time is as respectful and amicable as possible and noted he will not be making any further comment. TMZ was first to report the news.
The 35-year-old Northern Irishman filed for a dissolution on Monday, May 13, a day after his 26th PGA Tour win at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship and a day before he arrived on site at Valhalla Golf Club for the 2024 PGA Championship. McIlroy’s last major victory came 10 years ago here at Valhalla at the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla.
McIlroy and Stoll, a former PGA of America employee, became engaged in December 2015 and married in April 2017. The couple had a daughter, Poppy, in September 2020.
The 35-year-old won the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club on Sunday at 17 under by five shots to secure his 26th win on the PGA Tour after a blistering final-round performance. McIlroy shot a 6-under 66 and played Nos. 8-15 at 8 under with a pair of eagles.
For his efforts, McIlroy will take home the top prize of $3.6 million, while 54-hole leader Xander Schauffele will bank $2.16 million for finishing runner-up. Even Ben An in third place cleared seven figures with a $1.36 million payday.
With $20 million up for grabs in the signature event, check out how much money each PGA Tour player earned this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
The win is the 26th of his PGA Tour career and second of the season.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. —The stars showed up at the PGA Tour’s sixth big-money, no-cut signature event of the season, where two top-five players in the world separated from the pack to set up a slugfest on Sunday.
In the end it was Rory McIlroy who donned the crown and took the throne as the King of the Queen City. The 35-year-old Northern Irishman entered the final round one shot back of Xander Schauffele but flipped the script around the turn to win the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship by a whopping five shots at 17 under after a 6-under 65 at Quail Hollow Club, where he’s now a four-time winner dating back to his maiden victory on Tour in 2010.
“I must say, I do go on Zillow quite a lot and look at some of the properties around here,” McIlroy joked. “I love coming back here, I love spending time here. It’s a place that I’m very comfortable at with Quail Hollow, the city of Charlotte in general and the people. For whatever reason, I get so much great support here.”
“I said it on the 18th green after I won there that all these people have sort of watched me grow up. I won here for the first time as a 20-year-old and now at 35, so they’ve sort of seen my progression throughout the years,” he continued. “I’ve sort of grown up in front of their eyes and I think that’s one of the reasons I get a lot of support here, too.”
Rory McIlroy acknowledges the gallery after winning the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club. (Photo: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)
McIlroy won his last start at the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans with his partner and good friend Shane Lowry and now has 26 PGA Tour wins to his name. The four-time major champion hasn’t missed a cut this season on Tour in nine starts and has eight finishes inside the top 25, including a trio of top 10s.
“I don’t know what’s more unbelievable, winning a PGA Tour event for the fourth time or getting my (26th win),” said McIlroy. “Whenever I sort of hit some of these milestones or do these things, I always think back to, for example, like 20-year-old me playing in this tournament for the first time. If I had known back then that this is the way everything was going to pan out, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.”
Schauffele, who finished solo second at 12 under after an even-par 71, hasn’t missed a cut in 12 PGA Tour starts this season and has now bagged 11 top-25 finishes, with eight inside the top 10, including a T-2 at the Players Championship. Ben An (66) continued his solid season with a third-place finish at 9 under, his fifth top-10 finish in 13 starts this year. Jason Day (70) and Sungjae Im (73) finished T-4 at 6 under.
“Mixed bag, for sure,” Schauffele said of his round. “I mean, (Rory) played unbelievable. Looked up at the board and I’m like, ‘Dang, he’s 6 under through 6 on the back nine.’ It’s something else. With that being said, yeah, I mean, overall I felt like I was doing pretty well for most of the day and then had that costly stretch and he capitalized like no other. Big reversal there.”
“I felt like I controlled the ball off the tee pretty well, some of those fairways are pretty daunting. Hit some incredible iron shots that I haven’t been able to do in quite some time, you know, right to left and left to right,” Schauffele explained. “Overall, I just need to clean up my short game, it’s always been a deciding factor whether I win a tournament or not, sort of a trigger stat for me, and it definitely hurt me today.”
McIlroy began the day with a birdie on the first hole to briefly tie Schauffele but fell back with a bad bogey on the par-3 4th hole after his tee shot was a club short and found the bunker.
On No. 6, Schauffele left a birdie putt, albeit a lengthy one, criminally short, which would foreshadow what was to come the rest of the round. From off the green, McIlroy nearly holed his chip and put the pressure on Schauffele to make his knee-knocker for par from eight feet. The putt skated by and the pair were once again tied.
On the par-5 7th, McIlroy missed fairway then barely held the green to leave a lengthy effort for birdie that he didn’t give enough respect nor pace. Schauffele, meanwhile, found the fairway and played the contour of the green to perfection to set up an eagle and bounce back from the bogey and take a two-shot lead after McIlroy three-jacked for par. Then the tide turned.
“You know, that was a big moment on 7. I three-putted, Xander made an eagle. Then Xander was inside me on 8, I knew I really needed to hole that putt just to try to stay or keep up with him,” McIlroy said of the situation. “Then he missed his, I birdied mine and then I just went on a run that for whatever reason I’m able to go on at this golf course.”
McIlroy made birdie on Nos. 8 and 9 from just outside 10 feet while Schauffele missed his birdie efforts from 10 and 31 feet, respectively, to make the turn to the back nine tied at 13 under. McIlroy curled in a 33-footer for eagle to one-up Schauffele’s birdie on No. 10 to take his first lead of the tournament and he never looked back. McIlroy extended his lead with a birdie-birdie-eagle run on Nos. 13-15 – after his eagle he threw his ball into the crowd – while Schauffele stumbled with bogeys on Nos. 12, 13 and 16 and a lone back-nine birdie on No. 15.
Standing on the 18th tee box, McIlroy had a seven-shot lead, which came in handy as his approach to the back pin on the par 4 skipped off the edge and found the creek that runs along the entirety of the hole. A double-bogey six put the cherry on top of a five-shot win.
The purse at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship is $20 million with $3.6 million going to the winner.
With 18 holes to play, the lead is down to one.
Xander Schauffele shot 1-under 70 on Saturday, however, Rory McIlroy was three better and is within a stroke with the final round to come Sunday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club. Sungjae Im is at 8 under, four back of Schauffele.
The purse at the Wells Fargo Championship is $20 million with $3.6 million going to the winner. The winner will also receive 700 FedEx Cup points.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for the final round of the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. All times listed are ET.
After an hour-long weather delay Friday, the second round of the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship is in the books.
Xander Schauffele maintains his lead, however, a bogey on his final hole brought the chasers, including Jason Day and Rory McIlroy, one shot closer. They’ll be four behind when the weekend starts.
The purse at the Wells Fargo Championship is $20 million with $3.6 million going to the winner. The winner will also receive 700 FedEx Cup points.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for the third round of the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. All times listed are ET.
With Wells Fargo in its final year of sponsorship, fans have been flocking to the merch tent to pick up their gear.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — This week marks the final year that Wells Fargo will sponsor the PGA Tour’s annual stop at Quail Hollow Club in the Queen City, and fans have been flocking to the merchandise tent to get the gear.
The 2024 Wells Fargo Championship merchandise tent has a little something for everyone. There are classic golf polos and quarter zips, plenty of hats to celebrate the tournament and Charlotte area, unique head covers and more. There are also a handful of t-shirts that pay homage to the Green Mile, Quail Hollow’s famous closing three-hole stretch.
Check out some of the best gear that’s for sale at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow.
After a first-round 7-under 64, Xander Schauffele holds a three-shot lead over Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa and Alex Noren at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Schauffele’s stellar day at Quail Hollow Club was aided by a fortunate drop from the woods that sent social media into a frenzy.
McIlroy, the 2010, 2015 and 2021 Wells Fargo champion, is rounding into form just in time for the year’s second men’s major championship next week.
The purse at the Wells Fargo Championship is $20 million with $3.6 million going to the winner. The winner will also receive 700 FedEx Cup points.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for the second round of the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. All times listed are ET.
Friday tee times
1st tee
Tee time
Players
11 a.m.
Austin Eckroat, Adam Scott, Ben Kohles
11:11 a.m.
Lucas Glover, J.T. Poston, Cam Davis
11:22 a.m.
Chris Kirk, Taylor Moore, Tommy Fleetwood
11:33 a.m.
Nick Taylor, Tony Finau, Adam Hadwin
11:44 a.m.
Stephan Jaeger, Matt Kuchar, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Matsuyama pulled out of the tournament before his first round tee time on Thursday.
Hideki Matsuyama withdrew from the PGA Tour’s 2024 Wells Fargo Championship just minutes before his weather-delayed first-round tee time on Thursday afternoon.
The 32-year-old from Japan cited a back injury as the reason for his withdrawal, which brings the signature event field down to 68 players after Ludvig Aberg withdrew earlier in the week.
Matsuyama hasn’t missed a cut in 10 starts on Tour this season and picked up his first win in two years back in February at the Genesis Invitational, the ninth victory of his career on Tour. In five previous Wells Fargo starts Matsuyama hadn’t missed the cut and bagged two top-25 finishes.
The injury and withdrawal have put Matsuyama’s status for next week’s 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, in question.
Hideki Matsuyama WD prior to the start of his first round at the Wells Fargo Championship due to a back injury.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) May 9, 2024
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The PGA Tour’s best players are at Quail Hollow Club this week for the sixth of eight $20 million signature events this season, but the early discussion so far at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship has been focused off the course.
PGA Tour Policy Board member Webb Simpson had planned to step down from his role and have Rory McIlroy – who resigned from the board back in November – take his place. After some “complicated” and “messy” discussions, Simpson will see out his term which ends in 2025 after players voiced their concerns about McIlroy returning.
“There’s been a lot of conversations,” McIlroy said with a coy smile, noting how the discussions partly reminded him of why he left the policy board in the first place. “It got pretty complicated and pretty messy and I think with the way it happened, I think it opened up some old wounds and scar tissue from things that have happened before.”
“There was a subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason,” he added. “I think the best course of action is if, you know, there’s some people on there that aren’t comfortable with me coming back on, then I think Webb just stays on and sees out his term, and I think he’s gotten to a place where he’s comfortable with doing that and I just sort of keep doing what I’m doing. I put my hand up to help and it was — I wouldn’t say it was rejected, it was a complicated process to get through to put me back on there. So that’s all fine, no hard feelings and we’ll all move on.”
Simpson contradicted McIlroy no less than an hour later and denied any negative sentiment towards the world No. 2’s potential return to the board.
“I think the players on the board were very supportive of him being more involved, and in those conversations I think they all see the vital role he plays not only on the PGA Tour, but he’s a DP World Tour member and they’re such an important piece in the game of golf and our Tour,” said Simpson, who also noted he didn’t get any sense that McIlroy wasn’t welcomed. “So his perspective is tremendous to us. He’s a global player, always has been, so I just think his views are important, and the other guys feel the same.”
Rory McIlroy in action during the pro am at Quail Hollow Club on May 9, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
McIlroy, who has been on the front lines for the PGA Tour in its battle with LIV Golf, joined the board in 2022 and was supposed to serve out his term until the end of this year until he abruptly resigned late last fall. McIlroy was then replaced by Jordan Spieth via a board vote. After sticking up for the Tour for the better half of two years, his decision to bail on the board didn’t sit well with his colleagues.
“He was very clear that it was too much for him. He had business dealings, he has a kid, he wants to focus on his game. Trust me, I get it. But once you quit, you’re not getting back,” Kevin Streelman, a former member of the policy board who ran against McIlroy for Player Advisory Council chairman, told Golfweek. “I wouldn’t quit on something that you were elected to by your peers. To want back in is peculiar.”
Since he left the board, McIlroy has been adamant and outspoken on why the Tour needs to get a deal done with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – LIV’s financial backer – in order to reunite the game.
“Golf and the PGA Tour has been so good to me over the years, I just feel like it’s my obligation or duty to try to give back and try to set the next generation of players up like we were set up by the previous generation,” McIlroy said of his reasoning to try and rejoin the board after stepping down. “I think there’s a responsibility with every generation to try to leave the Tour, leave the place that you’re playing in a bit of a better spot than it was before. That’s what it’s about.”
Despite being stiff-armed out of consideration, McIlroy is “still optimistic” a deal will get done and believes Simpson staying on “is a really good thing.”
“I think he’s got a really balanced voice in all of this and I think he sees the bigger picture, which is great,” McIlroy explained. “My fear was if Webb stepped off and it wasn’t me that was going in his place, what could potentially happen. Yeah, I’m really happy that Webb has made that decision to stay on and serve out the rest of his term.”
As a 35-year-old from Northern Ireland, McIlroy made an interesting comparison of the current state of professional golf to the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland and Ireland in the 1990s.
“I would say I’m impatient because I think we’ve got this window of opportunity to get (a deal) done, because both sides from a business perspective I wouldn’t say need to get it done, but it makes sense,” he explained. “I sort of liken it to like when Northern Ireland went through the peace process in the ’90s and the Good Friday Agreement, neither side was happy. Catholics weren’t happy, Protestants weren’t happy, but it brought peace and then you just sort of learn to live with whatever has been negotiated, right?”
“That’s sort of how I, it’s my little I guess way of trying to think about it and trying to make both sides see that there could be a compromise here. Yeah, it’s probably not going to feel great for either side, but if it’s a place where the game of golf starts to thrive again and we can all get back together, then I think that’s ultimately a really good thing.”
The Tour’s Chief Competitions Officer Tyler Dennis wasn’t able to provide a material update on the status of the conversations between the PIF and the Tour, but did note the discussions are still ongoing and positive.
“It has nothing to do with me being on the board,” Simpson said of his place on the PGA Tour Policy Board.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Outside of the four major championships, players have circled the PGA Tour’s eight signature events on the 2024 schedule seeing as the limited-field tournaments boast a $20 million purse and offer up even more FedEx Cup points than a normal event.
This week at Quail Hollow marks the Tour’s sixth of eight elevated stops, and the big-money event has brought another round of criticism for the four players who received sponsor exemptions to the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship: Matt Kuchar, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson and Gary Woodland. As members of the PGA Tour’s Policy Board, players like Scott and Simpson have been in the social media crosshairs, and the latter – a Quail Hollow member since 2011 and resident since 2014 – defended his selection during a press conference on Wednesday.
“Look, it’s a different day and age now than it was. I know these sponsor exemptions are probably the most coveted sponsor exemptions in the history of the Tour, but we’re not going to make everyone happy,” said Simpson. “As we’re looking at what criteria should these sponsor exemptions be, yadda yadda, we’re trying to balance making sponsors happy, giving them the opportunity to invite — you know, these tournament directors, who do they want to bring to their tournament, to their community, who do they think will add value to their tournament. These tournament directors are working round the clock for a year trying to make their tournament the best. We want to give them the opportunity to say, ‘Hey, you have a few spots, four spots in these Signature Events to be able to invite who you want to invite.’”
The Tour’s idea with the signature events was for players to earn their way into the amped-up tournaments and reap the rewards for their efforts. A member of the Tour’s Policy Board earning four spots into the six signature events so far brings the meritocracy into question, especially given his form this season. Across seven starts, Simpson has made six cuts but hasn’t cracked the top 25. He’s 152nd in the FedEx Cup standings and No. 227 in the world.
“I know that I’ve gotten, this is my fourth sponsor exemption, and Adam Scott’s received his fair share. There was controversy and guys were trying to link us being on the board, but it has nothing to do with me being on the board,” Simpson. The seven-time winner on Tour (not since 2020) argued his relationships with tournament directors and specifically his connection to the Charlotte area have made him a worthwhile selection.
Webb Simpson hits a tee shot on the first hole during the third round of the Valero Texas Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
“So I certainly think the criticisms, I knew they were going to come depending on who got them, but I’m very comfortable knowing that we’ve given the sponsors the opportunity to pick, and the tournament directors,” he added. “I want to move on from it and realize that the Wells Fargo Championship is an amazing tournament.”
As a player in the field this week, Simpson has spent time with kids in the hospital and will spend time with the First Tee of Charlotte on the range at Quail Hollow on Wednesday afternoon.
“There’s things that I’m way more interested in and that get me excited than kind of worrying about what a certain person thinks about who should get sponsor exemptions,” Simpson said.
While Simpson doesn’t care about the perception of sponsor exemptions to signature events, the fans clearly do. The last thing the Tour needs right now is to alienate its supporters and water down its biggest events as it continues to be challenged each year by the threat of the guaranteed money offered by LIV Golf. The powers that be in Ponte Vedra Beach at Tour HQ are in a tough position as they try to make players, fans and sponsors happy.
“What the PGA Tour Policy Board has committed is that at the summer meeting, they’re going to review how things have progressed in terms of the metrics we looked at, you guys might remember me talking about this a year ago, retention rates, and the sort of aspirational nature of the PGA Tour,” said the Tour’s Chief Competitions Officer Tyler Dennis. “We’re gonna look at all of that and I’m sure sponsor exemptions will be one of those things and see what, if any, changes might be made for the 2025 season.”
