Fellow members at the exclusive Florida golf club attended by Rory McIlroy have expressed their surprise at the news.

That the superstar will divorce his wife Erica Stroll after seven years of marriage.

The Northern Irishman filed for divorce on May 13, with their decade-long relationship over, according to court documents submitted in Palm Beach County. 

The pair first met back in 2012 at the Ryder Cup before embarking on a romance two years later.

Eventually marrying in 2017 in ceremony attended by Stevie Wonder and Jamie Dornan.

The couple also welcomed a daughter, Poppy, who was born in August 2020. 

McIlroy was spotted without his wedding ring while taking part in the PGA Championship this week at Valhalla Golf Club, while his estranged wife was also seen without her engagement ring on May 16.

Now, members of the South Florida community that the couple have made home for the last half-decade have reacted to the news that the pair have gone their separate ways. Describing McIlroy’s character, one source informed PEOPLE : “Rory is fairly down to earth for such a big star. However, he is very private and can be nice to be around but he just does NOT love the limelight.”

The publication claims the insider said that members Bear’s Club golf course where the Northern Irishman plays “are talking about this and wondering what happened’. They also described McIlroy as “so private that there wasn’t a lot of speculation concerning his family life”, before suggesting: “We are wondering what happened.”

Previously, the couple had appeared to be the picture of marital bliss, with the current world No. 2 golfer speaking in glowing terms about how their romance blossomed. Speaking of how they first met, McIrloy recalled to the Golf Channel : “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. But yeah, it’s still cool to look around and think about that week, and obviously everything that’s happened since then,” he said, as he spoke with pride about the relationship which blossomed, adding: “It’s pretty cool.”

He also recounted how the pair became friends before their romance developed, telling The Independent : “The thing I love about it is that we were friends before anything romantic happened. We ended up spending a bit of time together and realized that there was something more there.”

Of the support that his then-partner had given him during his career, McIlroy also told the Irish Independent : “Erica has been around me quite a lot at tournaments but we have really just tried to keep it low-key. She is a very low-key person, not the kind to broadcast stuff, but that side of my life is really good just now.”

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Source: Tampa Bay Times