Report: Irondequoit's Erica Stoll to wed Rory McIlroy on Saturday
The next chapter in Erica Stoll's fairy-tale romance with Rory McIlroy is a big one and appropriately it'll happen at a castle.
According to The Belfast Telegraph and the Irish Independent, the Irondequoit native and one of golf's biggest stars will be married Saturday at Ashford Castle in Ireland, and it's reportedly going to be quite a lavish affair. Then again, why wouldn't it be? McIlroy, 27, who is from Northern Ireland, made more than $42 million last year alone and has an endorsement deal from Nike that pays him $20 million annually.
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USA Today reports that according to the castle’s website, there are three different starting wedding rental rates: $86,333 in the "low” season (January to March), $108,760 in “mid” season (April to October) and $138,144 for the “high” season (May to September). It's an 85-room castle.
The Telegraph reports that former One Direction star Niall Horan will be among the guests along with plenty of other golf stars. The Independent says there are rumors that Ed Sheeran will perform at the wedding even though he's scheduled to be at his own concert at England’s Manchester Arena on Saturday night (it's a 50-minute flight from Ashford Castle). The Irish Sun reports that Coldplay will perform.
Stoll, 31, who graduated from West Irondequoit in 2003, and McIlroy got engaged in Paris in December 2015.
They met by chance in 2012. She was the PGA of America employee who helped save one of Team Europe's stars from missing his tee time at the Ryder Cup in Medinah, Illinois. It was a time zone mishap, McIlroy said. He'd misinterpreted his tee time, which was 11:25 a.m. Central time, as 12:25 p.m. Stoll was at the course and noticed McIlroy's absence that Sunday morning of the final day's singles matches. She alerted officials and McIlroy received a police escort to get to the course.
He barely made his tee time to avoid disqualification, then went out and beat Keegan Bradley, 2-and-1, to help Europe win.
At the time, McIlroy was dating tennis star Caroline Wozniacki. They got engaged on New Year's Eve in 2013, but they split about five months later and Rory responded with wins at the British Open and PGA Championship.
Stoll played tennis in high school and graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology. She began moving toward a career in golf in the lead up to the 2008 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, just outside of Rochester. She worked on site as an office manager for the PGA that year to help prep for the major tournament in her hometown.
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"I've talked to them about it and they know my interest," Stoll said then about landing a job with the PGA after the event.
McIlroy was first spotted in Rochester almost exactly two years ago. Over the weekend of April 18-19 in 2015, McIlroy and Stoll were spotted having dinner with friends downtown and then grabbing a drink at a bar in the city's trendy Park Avenue neighborhood.
They've spent two New Year's Eves in the five-star hotel at the Ashford Castle.
A couple weeks ago at The Masters, the only major tournament he has yet to win, McIlroy hinted that the wedding was approaching fast. After he finished tied for seventh, he said: "It's a great time in my life and it would have been nice to walk down the aisle in the green jacket! ... it's all about (the wedding) over the next couple of weeks and I'll come back at The Players (Championship in Florida May 11-14) refreshed and a married man and start a new chapter in my life."
JDIVERON@Gannett.com