Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy and CBS reporter Amanda Balionis were all smiles and shared a hug in behind the scenes photos from their recent on-camera interview at the Canadian Open shared by TMZ Sports on Monday (June 3) amid dating rumors.
Last week, Us Weekly reported that McIlroy, 35, and Balionis, 38, only had a "professional relationship" following the Daily Mail's report that they were the talk of the links" after others noticed their apparent close relationship on the PGA Tour and weeks after the golfer filed for divorce from estranged wife Erica Stoll. Balionis, who separated from husband Bryn Renner in 2024, interviewed McIlroy after his victory at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow golf course one day prior to news of his divorce filing.
McIlroy also previously filmed a promo for Balionis' nonprofit organization, Puppies & Golf, in April.
McIlroy reportedly hired a private investigator to serve his estranged wife divorce papers at their members-only development Florida home on May 13, according to court documents obtained by the Belfast Telegraph in Ireland. The four-time major champion stated that the marriage was "irretrievably broken" in the documents, which confirm that the golfer has a prenup. Carl Woods, a former Palm Beach Police officer who now runs the private practice, CW Services & Associates, served Stoll the legal documents at 10:30 a.m. on May 13.
McIlroy signed the divorce papers digitally while playing in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hallow in North Carolina, a tournament he won, on May 9, according to the court documents. On May 20, a source with knowledge of the situation told Us Weekly that Stoll reached "a breaking point" because she "was lonely in their marriage" while addressing the recent divorce filing.
“A point of contention in Rory’s marriage with Erica was that Erica was lonely in their marriage,” the source said. "Rory was a hard person to be married to."
The source claimed that McIlroy and Stoll, a former publicist, "were living very different lives the last two years with him being on the road, and eventually she had a breaking point." The source claims the couple's relationship changed after the birth of their daughter, Poppy, in August 2020 as Stoll's priorities shifted, which included her noticeable absence from the Masters in April.
“She knew what she was getting into with his profession, but once they had Poppy, things really changed and she had a new perspective,” the source told Us Weekly. “Erica was usually absent for most of his tournaments and was really focused on Poppy.”
McIlroy is seeking split custody of Poppy and his representatives “stressed Rory’s desire to ensure this difficult time is as respectful and amicable as possible" following news of his divorce filing. Court records show that McIlroy submitted the documents in Florida on May 13, hours after he won the Wells Fargo Championship tournament at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte over the weekend.
McIlroy and Stoll, who were married in 2017, were initially linked in 2014 after he called off his engagement to tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, having met two years prior when Stoll worked as a PGA transport official at the Ryder Cup, PEOPLE.com reports.
“Erica that week was always the one that was checking us in and out. She was there at transportation, so she was always in the car park over there (by the clubhouse),” McIlroy told NBC Sports during an interview in 2019. “But yeah, it’s still cool to look around and think about that week, and obviously everything that’s happened since then. It’s pretty cool.”
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