McIlroy’s ex refuses to speak ill of golfing star

The ex-girlfriend of golf superstar Rory McIlroy has revealed she is still friends with her childhood sweetheart despite his celebrity relationship with tennis star Caroline Wozniacki.

Holly Sweeney, 21, told the Saturday Night Show how her long-term boyfriend left her to begin dating the Danish tennis pin-up. However, Holly said she doesn’t blame Wozniacki for the end of their six-year relationship last July. “Why should I blame her?”

She refused to speak ill of her millionaire ex, saying they still share custody of the dogs they owned while together.

Holly said: “I took all the DVDs. He got to keep the dogs. It’s unfair for them to run around in an apartment rather than however many acres of land there is. I have visitation rights.

“They got their Christmas dinner so I got a little picture. We are (friends) of course. We still talk. Why should I remember the six years that were fantastic for one last horrible memory?”

The Belfast student said she knew McIlroy had a “crush” on Wozniacki even before he met her in Germany.

“He went to a boxing match with a couple of his friends and I didn’t really hear from him. I let him be because he was with his mates and having a good time and he came back and I got a little bit of a blank.

“I thought, ‘Oh no, something has happened here.’ We sat down and talked it through and it ended up we weren’t together at the end of that night.”

Holly said she had seen a tweet from McIlroy saying he had met Wozniacki while he was at the match. “I didn’t really read too much into it. Why would you?

“It was just one wee tweet. It kind of niggled but it didn’t really play a big part. He watched the tennis all the time and that was his crush. I thought, ‘Right, OK, so they met each other, that’s fine.’”

She said McIlroy ended their six-year relationship when he flew home. “He had his doubts again and, fair enough, I wasn’t going to stick around and make his life miserable, so I thought ‘Right, OK, I’ll do whatever makes you happy.’

“That’s what you do for love, even if it is heart-breaking.”

The model said she doesn’t have anyone special in her life. “I wish there was but no I haven’t found anybody. I just knock them straight back,” she joked.