Rory McIlroy and pre major championship drama go hand in hand. The latest drama is that the divorce petition he filed last month has been voluntarily dismissed.
On the Monday before the US PGA Championship the shock news emerged that he had filed for divorce from his wife Erica Stoll in a Florida court.
According to the Guardian McIlroy has reconciled with his wife of seven years.
McIlroy told the Guardian: “There have been rumours about my personal life recently, which is unfortunate. Responding to each rumour is a fool’s game.
“Over the past weeks, Erica and I have realised that our best future was as a family together. Thankfully, we have resolved our differences and look forward to a new beginning.”
With his marriage still intact it does appear that the Holywood man will be able to solely focus on his golf as he hunts an elusive fifth major title at the US Open at Pinehurst no.2.
McIlroy was T23 the last time the championship was held on this golf course and he went on to win back to back majors in that glorious summer of 2014 but he has yet to lift a fifth crown since.
“I’m really proud of my body of work over the past 15 years and everything that I have achieved, whether it be season-long titles or individual tournaments or majors,” McIlroy said.
“Obviously getting my hands on a fifth major has taken quite a while, but I’m more confident than ever that I’m right there, that I’m as close as I’ve ever been.”
Paul McGinley feels McIlroy is better equipped than ever to handle the firm and fast challenge that will be posed to him this week and McIlroy agrees.
Having missed three successive cuts between 2016 and 2018 he has five straight top-10 finishes at the US Open.
“I feel like I really struggled at U.S. Open setups, 2016, ’17, ’18 in particular,” the world number three said in his pre-tournament press conference. “I sort of had a bit of a I guess come-to-Jesus moment after that, tried to really figure out why that was.
“Then my performances from 2019 and after that have been really, really good.”