Rory McIlroy admits life is a bit different at this stage of his PGA Tour career given his commitment to his wife, Erica Stoll and family. During the BMW Championship, McIlroy revealed that the couple’s daughter, Poppy, just had her first day of school.
Unfortunately, McIlroy missed the milestone moment since he was in St. Louis for the BMW Championship. McIlroy also pushed back against critics of his schedule revealing that he plans to play in a tournament in five of the next six weeks.
“I’m playing five of the next six weeks,” McIlroy told reporters on August 19, 2026. “So I’m going to play, over the course of a calendar year, I still play more than most of the top guys, because I play on both tours. But it’s just trying to find that balance.
“And then, yeah, trying to be home enough, trying to make sure you’re home for — it’s Poppy’s first day of school today. I would have loved to have been home for that, but I’m here. Just stuff like that, you know, that things I didn’t have 10 years ago that I have these days. I’m in a different spot in my life.”
Rory McIlroy on Wife, Erica Stoll & Daughter, Poppy: ‘Not All My Eggs Are in the Golf Basket’
GettyNorthern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy poses with his wife Erica Stoll and their daughter as he celebrates with his trophy at the end the 2025 DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai on November 16, 2025. McIlroy was crowned the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai champion for a seventh year, and four seasons in a row, but the world No.2 lost the $10 million Tour Championship to England’s Matt Fitzpatrick in the first playoff hole when he found the water with his tee shot. (Photo by Fadel SENNA / AFP via Getty Images)
McIlroy and Stoll spent recent years very much in the spotlight amid divorce rumors. Ultimately, the couple decided not to divorce in 2024, months after news broke regarding McIlroy and Stoll’s intended split.
McIlroy admitted that his priorities have shifted since his early years as a golfer.
“Yeah, as the years go on… things that you didn’t have in your mid 20s you have in your mid 30s that you prioritize over golf, right,” McIlroy noted. “Prioritize things with your family or things that you don’t want to miss. That’s the stage of life where I’m at where not all my eggs are in the golf basket.
“There’s other things that I want to do and there’s other things that I feel like I have to do. Yeah, it’s a balance. Some years I’ll maybe play more, some years I’ll maybe play where it’s a little bit lighter.”
Rory McIlroy’s Wife, Erica, Was Subjected to Cruel Fan Behavior During 2025 Ryder Cup
GettySANDS POINT, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 23: Rory McIlroy of Team Europe and wife Erica Stoll McIlroy arrive for the Ryder Cup Teams’ Welcome Dinner prior to the Ryder Cup 2025 at Hempstead House on September 23, 2025 in Sands Point, New York. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Stoll was unfortunately subjected to unruly fan behavior during the 2025 Ryder Cup. Skratch’s Alan Shipnuck relayed a story of McIlroy sharing a private moment with his wife at the end of the tournament.
“And, you know, the Masters completed Rory as a golfer in a lot of ways, like Bethpage is kind of this redemption of him as a family man and as a human,” Shipnuck remarked in an April 14, interview on the “Two Writers Slinging Yang” podcast, . “And so he publicly defends his wife, speaks about her more emotionally than he ever has.
“In the champions press conference, all of Team Europe cheers. And I’m witnessing this stolen moment, this incredibly intense embrace and I’m standing right there. I can actually hear Rory’s voice,” Shipnuck continued.
“He says to his wife, ‘I love you so much.’ Their eyes are glistening and it’s like this really beautiful ending to the book. And so in that case, his marriage had to be in the book, because it’s been a talking point for two years.”
Rory McIlroy Makes Personal Admission on Wife Erica Stoll & Family at BMW Championship