World number one golfer Rory McIlroy is reportedly dating the PGA employee who made sure that he made his tee time in the Ryder Cup at Medinah in 2012.

Erica Stoll, 27, is said to have helped the Northern Irishman get to the venue with the help of the police after the golfer overslept.

Now, according to the Daily Mail, the pair have struck up a romance and spent New Year together at a hotel in the 13th-century Ashford Castle in Co. Mayo.

Reports have claimed that McIlroy, who ended his engagement with tennis player Caroline Wozniacki last May, has been dating Stoll for the last three months.