Rory McIlroy’s rival cracks joke over his divorce and shares theory

One of Rory McIlroy’s rivals has had his say on the player’s form this year after the 35-year-old filed for divorce.

Adam Scott has joked he “would like to struggle” like Rory McIlroy after the Northern Irishman filed for divorce ahead of the PGA Championship and then once again played well. McIlroy struggled for form in 2023, with success at the Genesis Scottish Open his only title win of the year.

But he has won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the Wells Fargo Championship in the last month and appears to be returning to his best. He finished 12-under at the PGA Championship and ended tied for 12th but just three shots off fourth. After news of McIlroy’s divorce was announced, Scott responded to the off-course drama around his rival.

He told a reporter: “Maybe I need to struggle a little more like Rory on the golf course! I would like to struggle like he does. If it’s affecting his play, it’s hard to see. He’s played incredibly for a long, long time.”

McIlroy’s attention may have been taken away from golf last year as he was a player director on the PGA Tour policy board and played a leading role in talks between the PGA and the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, with a link-up between the two organisations currently on the cards.

But he stepped away from the role to concentrate on his game amid a downturn in fortunes. And Scott has a theory that the four-time Major winner thought his duties away from the golf course were distracting him on it.

Maybe he thought it held him back from some success,” continued Scott, who is now on the PGA Tour’s transaction subcommittee and involved in negotiations with the PIF alongside Tiger Woods and McIlroy.

I don’t know, I think we are probably at different stages of our careers and I don’t think it has any impact on my play at all.

I’m fully aware that where I need to put my time and at this point I have a little bit of time for dealing, being on the PGA Tour board and I still think I have enough time to work on my game and other things in my life as well.

“So – but I understand everyone – if you asked me 10 years ago I probably wouldn’t have been willing to give that time at that point, and so I can understand maybe Rory found that challenging.”

McIlroy and his wife Erica Stoll filed for divorce last week after marrying each other seven years ago. The duo share a three-year-old daughter called Poppy, who was born in 2020.

And following news of the separation, a source told US Weekly: “A point of contention in Rory’s marriage with Erica was that Erica was lonely in their marriage.

“Rory was a hard person to be married to.” And the source also revealed they were “living very different lives the last two years with him being on the road, and eventually she had a breaking point.”