Reading Time: 3 minutes
Golf icon Rory McIlroy made history on Sunday when he won his first Masters, thus becoming only the seventh player in history to complete a Grand Slam.
It’s been a quarter century since a golfer managed that impressive feat, as Tiger Woods pulled it off back in 2000.
Needless to say, it’s a day that Rory will reflect upon with pride and gratitude for the rest of his life.
But according to one body language expert, McIlroy’s wife, Erica Stoll, seemed less than thrilled by the whole thing.
Erica Stoll’s ‘subdued’ reaction to Rory’s historic win
According to Judi James, Stoll was “polite and tempered” as she embraced McIlroy following his big win.
“Erica uses back pats, which are firstly a gesture of gentle affection but which also usually signal a desire to break from an embrace, while Rory appears much more clingy,” James told the Daily Mail today.
“Rory looks overwhelmed and clingy, while Erica’s response appears a little more polite, subdued and tempered.”
In recent months, here’s been more than usual scrutiny on the couple, as McIlroy and Stoll briefly broke up last year.
Rory and Erica eventually reconciled, but it’s been rumored that he dated CBS sports reporter Amanda Balionis while he and Stoll were on a break.
An awkward offer of congratulations
Yesterday’s mild awkwardness was compounded by the fact that Balionis tweeted out a photo of her recent interview with McIlroy, along with praise for his achievement.
“It took 17 Masters starts, 11 years of attempting to complete the career Grand Slam and 73 this week but Rory McIlroy has his Green Jacket and has solidified his legacy alongside Tiger, Jack, Gary, Hogan and Sarazen,” she wrote.
“What a week and a battle down to the very end.”
“Must be difficult since they dated last year,” one commenter replied, according to Page Six.
“This is just wrong… I’m pulling this up tmrw,” another added.
Moving on
Both Erica and Rory have been reluctant to talk about their split, and he’s done his best to put the matter to rest earlier this week,
“There have been rumors about my personal life recently, which is unfortunate. Responding to each rumor is a fool’s game,” the athlete told the Guardian in a statement last year.
“Over the past weeks, Erica and I have realized that our best future was as a family together. Thankfully, we have resolved our differences and look forward to a new beginning.”
It stands to reason that there would be intense interest in the personal life of the golf world’s brightest star.
But it sounds like anyone hoping for a Tiger Woods-style scandal from Rory is bound to be disappointed.
