Erica Stoll was born in New York in 1987. The pair first met in the 2012 Ryder Cup when a sleepy McIlroy got his tee times mixed up and was late for his tee time. Stoll, a PGA Tour of America employee, was on hand to help McIlroy get up and to the golf course.

Rory McIlroy entered the third round of the Open Championship trailing leader Scottie Scheffler by seven shots. After the first four holes of his round, though, the Northern Irishman sat just four shots back and looked to be on his way to a miraculous round of golf.

Shane Lowry was full of praise for his Irish teammate Rory McIlroy - but suggested the four-time major winner may well regret calling Scottie Scheffler "inevitable"

As the latest inductee into one of sport’s most exclusive clubs, there is little that grand slam champion Rory McIlroy has not seen in the game of golf. Then, just past the halfway mark of his Open Championship third round on Saturday,

Rory McIlroy picked up the ball from the thick rough, held it out in front of him and burst out laughing. It was one of the most baffling things to have happened to him on a golf course. Maybe one of the most frustrating,

Rory McIlroy hit a ball out of the rough, and as he swung into the ground he somehow unearthed another golf ball during the third round at The Open.