Rory McIlroy announced he will be taking a brief hiatus from golf after his disastrous end to the US Open, with Colin Montgomerie suggesting his marriage woes may have played a part in his downfall
Colin Montgomerie says Rory McIlroy ‘s on-off split from wife Erica Stoll may have impacted his disastrous US Open result.
McIlroy, 35, announced this week that he would be taking time away from golf after a shock collapse at the US Open, where he agonisingly missed out on his first major in a decade.
On the verge of victory, McIlroy missed two putts to hand Bryson DeChambeau the slam. A visibly crushed McIlroy made an early exit from Pinehurst before the trophy presentation even got underway.
Just days before the tournament, McIlroy had announced that he and Stoll were trying to patch up their rocky marriage. And given that his performance collapsed so soon after that statement, Montgomerie, himself a five-time major runner-up and a former Ryder Cup captain, believes it would’ve weighed heavily on the golfer from Northern Ireland.
“It’s bad enough going through a divorce,” Montgomerie said on The Sports Agents podcast. “It’s damn near impossible to concentrate on one particular item, which is trying to get round a golf course of extreme difficulty.”
“This isn’t a course with birdies galore. This is a course which is a demanding emotional rollercoaster going up and down. It’s an incredible golf course to play on but it’s so tough to mentally get through.
“Yes, he was divorced one week and then they were trying to patch it up next week, very publicly. The 10 years of hurt and the scarring that’s been going on in Rory’s life for the last 10 years to try and win a major, there’s a huge distraction coming up with two ahead with five to go, this was his best opportunity within those 10 years to win this.”
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