Rory McIlroy’s decision to divorce wife Erica Stoll ‘came out of the blue’, sources have suggested – with the golfer reportedly filing papers one day after he was pictured lifting a trophy with his wedding ring on his finger.

The 35-year-old PGA Tour ace had been snapped still wearing his wedding band on Sunday as he lifted the Wells Fargo Championship cup – and is said to have filed for the split 24 hours later in Florida’s Palm Beach County, where he lives.

His decision to break the marriage off just before a major golf tournament has echoes of his split from Caroline Wozniacki in 2014 just before the PGA Championship, which he went on to win.

It has prompted speculation he is hoping to shake off personal pressures to focus on his game.

And McIlroy is also following in the footsteps of fellow golfing divorcee Tiger Woods by hiring attorney Thomas Sasser to file his divorce papers. Sasser represented all-time great Woods when his wife divorced him in 2010.

Sources close to the sport say the split has taken the golfing world by surprise – adding that McIlroy’s recent form had not betrayed any difficulties behind the scenes. 

One source told The Sun: ‘Their split comes right out of the blue and no one saw it coming. The timing is very odd with Rory about to take part in a tournament but perhaps he wanted to get things tied up before it started.

‘Ironically, Rory is in some of the best form of his life so whatever has been going on behind the scenes has not affected him at all.’

McIlroy – said to be worth £200million according to the Sunday Times Rich List with career earnings of nearly £69million – did not appear to be showing any signs of strain as he took to the green at Valhalla Golf Club for practice on Tuesday.

The four-time golf majors winner looked relaxed and happy alongside caddy Harry Diamond as he took to the driving range at the club in Louisville, Kentucky.

Diamond was McIlroy’s best man at his wedding to Stoll in 2017 – a celebrity-packed affair at Ashford Castle in County Mayo, Ireland. McIlroy was not wearing his wedding ring as he hit the driving range.

The golfer had said on Sunday that the ‘stars are aligning’ – just before he is thought to have filed the divorce papers in Palm Springs County, Florida, citing that his marriage had become ‘irretrievably broken’.

The Northern Irishman first met 35-year-old New York state native Erica during the tournament in Illinois, at which she was working for the PGA. 

McIlroy and Stoll share three-year-old daughter Poppy Kennedy, who was born in 2020, having tied the knot in 2017 after a storybook meeting at the 2012 Ryder Cup.

He has previously credited the American with helping him make his tee time at Medinah – thanks to a police escort – after he missed his alarm. 

He went on to win his match over Keegan Bradley as part of what was later hailed as the ‘miracle at Medinah’.

Despite initially meeting at the Ryder Cup that year, it wasn’t until a few years later that the pair would enter a relationship.