How Rory McIlroy let estranged wife Erica Stoll know he was divorcing her

The PGA Tour star, 35, filed to divorce Stoll, 36, following seven years of marriage just 24 hours after winning the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina.

However, it has now emerged that the four-time major winner hired a police officer to serve the divorce papers to Stoll at their family home.

Stoll, a New York state native, was served the legal documents by Carl Woods – a Palm Beach police officer, who also runs a process serving business, CW Services & Associates, according to court documents.

Woods turned up unannounced at the McIlroys’ lavish $22million marital mansion in Jupiter, Florida at 10.30am ET on May 13 and handed Stoll a copy of McIlroy’s divorce petition.

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The summons describe Stoll as being white with blonde hair, in her 30s, thin, and standing between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-8 in height.

The four-time major winner signed the divorce papers digitally on May 9 while competing at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, which he went on to win beating Xander Schauffele by five shots, according to court records.

Stoll, who shares a three-year-old daughter Poppy with the professional golfer, has 20 days to file a written response to the petition with the circuit court clerk from the day she was served, according to the documents.

‘A phone call will not protect you,’ the summons read. ‘Your written response, including the case number given above and the names of the parties, must be filed if you want the court to hear your side of the case.

‘If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case, and your wages, money and property may thereafter be taken without further warning from the court.

‘There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may call an attorney referral service or a legal aid office (listed in the phone book.’

As of May 29, Stoll had yet to respond.

Court documents filed in Palm Beach County on May 13 and obtained by DailyMail.com state that their marriage was ‘irretrievably broken’.