Rory McIlroy Calls Off Wedding With Caroline Wozniacki (After Sending Out the Invites…)

Just days after sending out the invites for their wedding, PGA star Rory McIlroy decided that he’s not quite ready to be a married man and broke off his engagement with women’s tennis star Corline Wozniacki.

In a statement made through his management company, McIlroy took the blame for the breakup:

“The problem is mine. The wedding invitations issued at the weekend made me realize that I wasn’t ready for all that marriage entails,” McIlroy said. “I wish Caroline all the happiness she deserves and thank her for the great times we’ve had. I will not be saying anything more about our relationship in any setting.”

Unfortunately for Rory, he was already scheduled to talk to the press ahead of this week’s BMW PGA Championship, just hours after releasing the statement.

“It is quite a difficult time for Caroline and myself, and the statement really said it all this morning,” McIlroy told reporters, per ESPN. “It was mutual, and we both thought it was the best for us, the best for both of us. Time to move on, and I’ve said all that I need to say.”

Photo source: Twitter

McIlroy and Wozniacki had been together since 2011 and announced their engagement on New Year’s Eve last year. The breakup was a surprise to most people (though, for anyone who knows anything about celebrity relationships, let alone one between two competitive athletes who are at the top of their sport and pour all of their physical and emotional capacity into those sports, this shouldn’t be that shocking). Still, these are two human being and any breakup is going to be tough to handle.

“Look, I’m no different than anyone else,” McIlroy said. “Everyone has been through breakups, and it’s obviously very, very difficult. But look, I’m here to try and concentrate on this week and answer questions about golf, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Rory had his best year on the Tour (and in golf in general) in 2012. He won the PGA Player of the Year, PGA Tour Player of the Year, the Vardon Trophy, and the Byron Nelson Award. In addition he won the Race to Dubai, was voted the European Tour Golfer of the Year, he won the Mark H. McCormack Award for leading the Official World Golf Ranking for the most weeks in the year (28 of 52 weeks), and won a Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year.

Since then, though, he’s struggled mightily. He’s without a PGA Tour event win since the end of 2012, he’s missed the cut at the 2013 Open Championship, had to withdraw from the 2013 Honda Classic, and saw his world ranking fall from number 1 to number 10.

I guess, if anything, he’ll have more time to focus on getting back to form out on the links.