Rory McIlroy once reportedly brutally called off his engagement to a tennis star with a 'three-minute call' she initially thought was a joke.
Now, ahead of marrying his current spouse, Erica Stoll, 37, who he shared four-year-old daughter Poppy with, Masters golfing champion McIlroy, 35, was previously engaged to former tennis world number one, Caroline Wozniacki.
The pair announced their engagement in 2013 after three years of dating, but plans for a wedding were subsequently called off just a matter of months later after the pro-golfer ended things.
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The Times reports that McIlroy phoned Wozniacki to call off their engagement in a three-minute phone call six months prior to when they were supposed to get married - something she initially thought was just a joke.
"I was shocked. I thought at least it would be face-to-face or something, but there was nothing. It was a phone call and I didn’t hear from him again," the then-24-year-old explained.
"It was very hard because he made it very public from the start. He put out a press release and all of that so it just got put in my face."
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She assured that she was since in a 'very happy place' following the ordeal.
"I thought at the time that being with someone that was in a similar position to you was the obvious answer," McIlroy later told the Irish Independent in 2017. "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."
Tyla has reached out to Rory McIlroy's representatives for comment.
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McIlroy has also made headlines this week after leaving his wife, Stoll, out of his emotional Masters victory speech.
In his victory speech, the golfer thanked those who supported his journey, adding while getting teary: "Last but certainly not least, over to my left, my family, my team.
"They’ve been on this journey with me the whole way through.
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"They know the burden that I’ve carried to come here every year and try and try and try again."
Turning to four-year-old Poppy, who was sitting on Stoll's lap, McIlroy gushed: "The one thing I’d say to my daughter, Poppy, over there is, 'Never give up on your dreams.'"
He continued: "'Keep coming back. Keep working hard and if you put your mind to it, you can do anything.' Love you."
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Several people have since picked issue with the fact he didn't mention his wife by name - although family could be considered to include his wife - with one X user writing: "Love the shout-out to his daughter... would've been nice if he acknowledged his wife.
"Sorry, but after the divorce back and forth it would have been something he could have done."
A second hit out: "What about his wife for real?"
"Your wife Rory!!!" quipped a third, while another chirped: "No direct mention of his wife?"
And a fifth echoed: "Weird that not once in the entire post-round interviews did he mention his wife by name."
McIlroy filed for divorce from his spouse in May of last year after seven years of marriage, citing that the union was 'irretrievably broken', but the pair's separation was short-lived as he later dismissed the divorce just the following month in June 2024.
Topics: Celebrity, Sex and Relationships, Sport
Rhiannon Ingle