Rory McIlroy backed his decision to leave his former agent, Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler because the golfer felt he was “being led down the wrong path.” He made this decision in 2011 and regretted giving up his PGA card and not going to the Sawgrass tournament.
Moreover, he took these decisions under the guidance of Chandler and International Sports Management stablemate Lee Westwood. Reflecting on his decision, the Northern Irishman spoke to the Irish Times back in 2012 and relieved himself of all the subdued reasons behind such a decision.
Rory McIlroy reveals the reason behind leaving Chubby
McIlroy explained how he was misguided by Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler. He said,
“That’s another example of being involved with Chubby and ISM and maybe being led down the wrong path, or a path that I didn’t want to go down. It was something I sort of felt like I had to do.”
Added to that, he continued, “I think just spending a little bit of time around Chubby and Lee and hearing their view of the PGA Tour – obviously they’re very pro-European Tour – while I’ve always been one who wanted to play on the PGA Tour. Not playing Sawgrass was one of the decisions I look back on and regret a little bit.”
Then, Rory McIlroy talked about how he received suggestions from other people to identify the misguidance and take action.
“I had enough good people around me not to let that happen and I was able to go down the right path.”
But hearing the news of Rory McIlroy going to another sports management association called Horizon Sports disappointed Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler but the US Open champion was not ready to look back.
“Disappointed and a bit shocked…I thought we had a better relationship than that, but he had his reasons…he’s a 22-year-old with a very strong head who wants to make his own decisions, and one of his decisions was he didn’t want us to manage him any longer.”
Most recently, it was Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler who claimed that Rory McIlroy’s softened stance about LIV Golf could indicate a possible switch in the future. But was it because of the separation that he badmouthed the Northern Irishman or that the golfer really might do that? The answer will be revealed over time.
