RORY & ERICA
WEDDING FIREWORKS
AFTER 73 attempts, Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia has finally secured his first major tournament, prompting reports his fiancee Angela Akins was the secret weapon behind his win. Describing her as positive, outspoken and competitive, Garcia said she had the perfect mix to keep him in the right mental space for golf.
As most winners know, a healthy, happy relationship can have a massive impact on the final scoreboard. And Rory McIlroy is no different.
After years of a turbulent love life, the northern Irish man has learned the hard way. His engagement to tennis player Caroline Wozniacki coincided with a notable slump in his career and sports commentators didn’t feel it was beneath their expertise to look to the social columns for the answers.
Fellow pro-golfer Gary Player advised McIlroy to choose “the right wife”, such as his own whom he said, “only encouraged me to do well” and made the “sacrifices” needed to spur him on.
“For a man like Rory, with talent galore, he’s got to make sure he has a woman like I’ve got, who has been married [to me] for 56 years, that has only encouraged me to do well and made sacrifices — massive [sacrifices], living in South Africa and having to be away. He’s got to find the right wife,” he said.
“He’s got to be intelligent and... if he finds the right wife, if he practises and if he’s dedicated — a lot of ifs — he could be the man.”
Indeed Rory’s decision to split from Caroline seemed to pay off.
After the break-up, his golf game went from good to great and golf commentators said it was “no coincidence” the break-up coincided with a “steeliness in his demeanour” and “a determination to succeed”.
Within months he had gone on to win three consecutive tour events, including two majors, and stormed to the top of the world rankings. When asked why a “major personal event” like calling off the wedding hadn’t impacted on his focus, Rory replied: “I think it has happened to me for the better. I’ve put a little bit more time into my golf and [it has] refocused me in a way.”
His next relationship would be different. The right woman would provide a calming, happy and stable presence, shun talk of their relationship in the media, be happy to let him focus on his career and have a keen interest in his passion. Step forward dream woman Erica Stoll. For the past three years, the general feeling among sports writers is that Rory’s game has improved overall since their relationship took off.
The New Yorker has stayed just outside the spotlight, while bringing her serenity, happiness and a sense of consistency to the golfer’s high-octane life.
Good humoured, private and unassuming, she often dons a baseball hat and sunglasses when out with the star and rather than gushing about their relationship, the pretty blonde is more likely to be spotted on the side lines of the course cheering on her champion or with him on a low-key date.
Although at times Rory has answered questions about his love life, his all-American bride has yet to say a word about their relationship. Unlike Rory, who needs social media as part of his lucrative brand, Erica has set her online pages to ‘private’, trusting surprisingly few to follow her. Indeed, if their pre-wedding bashes are anything to go by, the privacy of Rory’s marriage will be preserved.
While Rory’s stag party was awash with starstudded guests, the press was unable to pick up on a word of how Erica celebrated her own soiree
A source told the Sunday Independent: “She has managed to keep a circle of very trusted close-knit friends and family around her. Her gang is airtight, which gives Rory incredible peace of mind, knowing he can completely trust her.”
In addition to privacy, Erica’s love of the game is another big bonus. They began dating in 2014 but first met in 2012 at the Ryder Cup, after Erica came to his rescue, famously getting McIlroy a police escort to the course so he narrowly avoided disqualification.
It was a sign of good things to come. What’s more, McIlroy found someone who brought out the best in him.
With Caroline, he never felt he could switch off and longed for a break away from all that his celebrity life entailed. Speaking about his relationship with Erica to the Sunday Independent’s Paul Kimmage, he said: “I found it refreshing being with someone who was living a normal life rather than, ‘Oh! My jet is 30 minutes late!’”
He continued: “I thought at the time that being with someone that was in a similar position to you was the obvious answer. But it isn’t, because you can never get away from it. You can never detach yourself and try to come back to the real world. And that’s why I feel in such a good place now. I don’t feel Erica wants to change me in any way. I can be myself around her; there’s no bulls**t, no acting, no show.”
Sport psychologist Dr Bob Rotella, who has worked with the likes of Phil Mickelson and Nick Price, has said that to flourish, “a golfer needs the support of friends or family, if not a spouse. If she wants that, it behoves her to show that she can be an enjoyable human being regardless of what happens on the course”.
This weekend, as Rory watched his bride walk down the aisle of St Mary’s Church in Ashford Castle, he may not have fulfilled his dream of wearing the green jacket just yet but he will be content knowing his life is going in the right direction once more — both on and off the course.
And if Sergio’s 73 attempts have taught him anything, it will be that dogged determination will eventually pay off.
‘Experts were quick to look to social columns for the answers’ ‘A golfer needs the support of family and friends’