Rory McIlroy divorce battle takes fresh twist (!) as wife Erica Stoll misses deadline

Erica Stoll, the estranged wife of PGA Tour superstar Rory McIlroy, reportedly missed Sunday's deadline to respond to divorce papers, according to the Daily Mail. 

According to court documents, Erica, 36, was served the divorce papers at her Florida home on 13 May, less than 24 hours after McIlroy captured a record fourth Wells Fargo Championship title. 

The proceedings were lodged in Palm Beach County Court by Thomas Sasser, the same lawyer who represented Tiger Woods during his divorce to Elin Nordegren after his extramarital affairs were exposed. 

She was served the papers by Carl Woods, a certified homicide investigator and a licensed private investigator. 

But according to a Palm Beach County Clerk official who spoke to the Daily Mail this week, it is understood McIlroy's estranged wife Erica missed the state's standard 20-calendar day window to lodge her reply on Sunday, and she has not filed anything since. 

It now means Erica, who is the mother of McIlroy's three-year-old daughter Poppy, is at risk of having the court grant the World No.3 a 'default divorce'. 

McIlroy, 35, is in PGA Tour action at the $20m Memorial Tournament hosted by Jack Nicklaus this week. 

According to the Daily Mail's report, 'if a default divorce is entered, the case can continue without participation by the defaulted party'. 

The Mail adds: 'The case would then continue without her having an opportunity to contest the Irishman’s May 13 petition which describes their seven-year marriage as irretrievably broken'.

According to court documents, McIlroy's petition asked for shared parental custody of their daughter, and asked the judge to enforce a prenup agreement the couple signed prior to their wedding in 2017. 

McIlroy has not spoken publicly about his divorce yet.

There has been plenty of social media rumour in recent weeks that McIlroy has been building up a romance with CBS reporter Amanda Balionis, who is also understood to be going through a divorce. 

But an unsubstianted report claims McIlroy and Balionis just have a 'professional relationship'.

Speculation was further fuelled last week when McIlroy was seen hugging Balionis following an interview at the RBC Canadian Open.