Poppy’s viral moment at the Masters Tournament Par 3 Contest was a perfect cherry on top to McIlroy and Stoll flexing their mended marriage after divorce scare.
If Rory McIlroy can putt as well as his 4-year-old daughter Poppy, he will almost assuredly win that illusive green jacket.
If you somehow missed it during today’s Masters Tournament Par 3 Contest, McIlroy’s only 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 with wife Erica Stoll, Poppy, gave a slight little tap on a long, downhill putt that slowly rolled down the notoriously lightning-fast greens of Augusta National, especially during Masters Tournament week.
Katie Goodale-Imagn Images
As McIlroy’s good buddy Shane Lowry watched in anticipation, the putt found the bottom of the cup, and the Irishman and British Open (The Open Championship formally) champion jumped for joy, along with his older daughter, Iris, 8. Poppy acted like it was no big deal and hugged her proud papa, a four-time major champion himself.
Also front and center was McIlroy’s wife, Erica, who was there to witness all of it as a proud mother and wife.
Stoll, who worked for the PGA Tour before marrying one of the most famous golfers in the world, was always by Rory’s side. Then last May, out of nowhere, the couple filed for divorce, only to rescind it one month later.
Mar 17, 2025: Rory McIlroy kisses his wife Erica Stoll while holding his daughter Poppy after winning the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. / Doug Engle-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images
McIlroy and Stoll released a statement around that time after some unfounded rumors: “There have been rumours about my personal life recently, which is unfortunate. Responding to each rumour is a fool’s game. Over the past weeks, Erica and I have realised that our best future was as a family together. Thankfully, we have resolved our differences and look forward to a new beginning.”
Besides a beautiful family moment after winning this year’s Players Championship, McIlroy had adopted a much more private persona besides some comments in “Full Swing” on Netflix about it being a “wake-up call.” That all changed this week.
Erica had him watch “The Devil Wears Prada” before winning the Players. This week, it’s Netflix’s wildly popular Shonda Rhimes period-piece soap opera “Bridgerton.”
“I was very against watching it,” McIlroy said at his Masters press conference. “But Erica convinced me. So we’re on a bit of a ‘Bridgerton’ kick this week.” Oh, and he’s also reading “The Reckoning” by John Grisham.
Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
And then there’s Poppy, which was probably the biggest wake-up call for the two-time US Open Champion, along with a British Open and PGA Championship. The career grand slam and a Masters victory is the one he still needs, especially having not won a major since 2014. Time is running out.
“It’s amazing that I can share these things with her and with Erica and – the day after the Players, she went into school and there was a couple of kids that had said some stuff to her, and she came home to me that day and said, Daddy, are you famous?”
Extremely famous. With a green jacket come Sunday, even more famous.
Apr 9, 2025: Rory McIlroy’s daughter, Poppy, hides her face as she laughs during the Par 3 Contest. / Michael Madrid-Imagn Images
