Rory McIlroy’s opening round at the RBC Canadian Open was a major headache.
McIlroy, 35, teed off at 7:40 a.m. on Thursday, May 30, at the Hamilton, Ontario Golf and Country Club, but it wasn’t just the early wake-up call that made things difficult — all thanks to caddie Harry Diamond.
“A bit of a slow start,” McIlroy told GolfWeek after his round. “Harry’s birthday dinner last night, so had a couple of glasses of wine. I was probably feeling a little groggy when I woke up.”
Still, McIlroy managed to shoot an impressive opening round 66, just three strokes off the lead.
The birthday party was the cherry on top of a celebratory couple of weeks for McIlroy, as he explained before the tournament began on Wednesday.
“I went to one of my best friend’s wedding in Italy for four days, which was a lot of fun, good to see a lot of people from home I haven’t seen in a long time,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, it was actually a really good trip, I needed it.”
The Irish golfer traveled to Siena, Italy for the wedding of his childhood friend Mitchell Tweedie. McIlroy acted as an usher for the ceremony.
“Then I had a great weekend at home,” McIlroy continued. “Spent time with my family and with [daughter] Poppy and, yeah, it was awesome. So I needed that reset. I’m playing four weeks in a row here. I’m ready to go, but, yeah, it’s been a busy stretch and I’m sort of easing my way back into it.”
All of McIlroy’s travel and free time comes on the heels of filing for divorce from wife of 7 years Erica Stoll on May 13.
According to documents obtained by Us Weekly on Sunday, May 26, McIlroy allegedly hired a private investigator to serve Stoll, 36, with divorce papers while she was at their shared home in Jupiter, Florida.
McIlroy was busy in North Carolina playing in the Wells Fargo Championship, a tournament he ultimately won by six strokes.
After McIlroy’s divorce filing, close friends of the golfer’s ex- fiancée Caroline Wozniacki exclusively told Us Weekly that the dissolution of his marriage to Stoll was “karma” for the way he treated Wozniacki, 33. McIlory infamously broke up with the tennis pro over the phone in 2014 after invitations to their wedding had been sent out.
For the moment, McIlroy appears to be single – despite some rumors to the contrary.
Us Weekly exclusively reported Wednesday, May 29 that he is not dating CBS Sports reporter Amanda Balionis, with whom McIlroy had been linked.
