Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki abruptly divorced ten years ago while arranging their wedding, and the tennis player is close with Brooks Koepka and his wife, Jena Sims. Brooks Koepka paid tribute to his wife, Jena Sims, following Rory McIlroy’s filed for divorce from Erica Stoll. McIlroy, 35, submitted the forms on Monday in Florida, and the news broke on Tuesday evening, according to the player’s team. Koepka then posted an appreciation post for Sims on Instagram, which McIlroy’s ex-fiancee Caroline Wozniacki remarked on.
Koepka and Wozniacki are buddies, with the tennis player following along with him at the Masters last year alongside her husband, former basketball player David Lee. Wozniacki married the retired NBA veteran in 2019, five years after originally planning to marry McIlroy, and the couple has two children. The Koepkas became parents for the first time last year, and Brooks’ post noted his wife’s appearance in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue for the first time. “So proud of you (Jena Sims)! It’s great to see what hard work can achieve! “I love you!” read the caption to the photo of Sims posing in a bikini. Wozniacki quickly responded, “Hot mama,” punctuated with three fire emoji.Koepka and Sims equally support their friend returning to the WTA Tour after resuming her career last year after taking a break to start a family.
The tennis player exposed her relationship with Lee three years after McIlroy called off his engagement. They ended their relationship in May 2014, after more than two years together. It arrived shortly after the couple sent out invites to their planned wedding. McIlroy said the split was amicable and consensual, however Wozniacki has since stated that they separated following a quick phone chat at the Northern Irishman’s request. She also stated that the two have not communicated since then. Stoll had met McIlroy more than a year before he became single. She worked for the PGA of America during the 2012 Ryder Cup in Medinah.
They started dating three years later, the year after he split with Wozniacki. Months later, they were engaged, with McIlroy proposing in Paris before the year ended. The pair married in April 2017 and Stoll gave birth to their first child three years later. The divorce papers name Poppy, and McIlroy wants equal parenting time with his daughter. In the files, their marriage is described as “irretrievably broken.” McIlroy’s relations team issued a statement Tuesday evening. “Rory’s desire is to ensure this difficult time is as respectful and amicable as possible,” it states. “He won’t be making any further comment.” The announcement of their split comes just days before the PGA Championship begins.
McIlroy enters the major off back-to-back PGA Tour victories, while Koepka is the defending champion. The Northern Irishman hopes to dethrone his American adversary and equal his five major victories at Valhalla Golf Club, where he won his last one a decade ago in the same month he split from Wozniacki.
