Chubby Wonders Aloud If Blame Lies With Caroline
Derek Lawrenson gets Chubby Chandler on the phone and after a few more hours (and perhaps a wee nip or two), he opened up about Rory McIlroy's shock firing of the famous manager.
‘I don’t know whether it was his girlfriend (world No 1 tennis player Caroline Wozniacki) getting in his ear or someone else but I thought we were doing a pretty good job, to be honest, and I think that’s how the outside world saw it,’ said Chandler.
McIlroy made it clear that is not how he saw it in a face-to-face with Chandler six weeks ago.
‘We sat down and he said he was not happy with his brand, sponsors, website or his public relations image,’ said Chandler.
Well that must make his current sponsors feel great about signing six-figure checks!
Speaking of the website, as of Friday night there wasn't one! The ISM IT department wasted no time taking that down. Who says ISM isn't responsive and agile!;)
And there was this speculation from Chubby where it appears we may have ego conflict here. Shocking, I know...
‘Maybe there was nothing more to this than Rory wanting to join his great mate G-Mac,’ said Chandler while sounding like he didn’t believe a word of it.
Was Chandler a victim of his own success? That’s another theory. After Schwartzel, McIlroy and Clarke won their majors, journalists started talking about the possibility of a ‘Chubby Slam’ at the US PGA in August. The personable Chandler did a few interviews and became a big talking point in his own right.
‘I don’t know if Rory didn’t like that but he referred to me as a “celebrity manager” a couple of times, which I thought was an odd thing to say,’ said Chandler.
I think we have our answer!
Brian Keogh reflects on the turmoil and also sheds some light on McIlroy's new 10-percenter.
But that won’t bother Horizon, which has been quietly making a name for itself since it signed McIlroy’s close friend Graeme McDowell from Chandler’s ISM group in 2007 and Ross Fisher from management giants IMG in March 2009.
Founded on the strength of a re-mortgaged home in 2005 and boosted by outside investment four years ago, many will raise doubts over the ability of Conor Ridge’s six-year old company to after the affairs of one of sports most marketable assets. But McIlroy has seen at close hand what Horizon has done for McDowell.
Similar fears were raised for McDowell’s future when he left Chandler as a frustrated and disillusioned player four years ago (“Let’s see how many deals he gets” was one reaction from ISM people.) Yet the sponsorship deals have rolled in without too much difficulty. McDowell won twice with ISM. With Horizon he has six wins, including the 2010 US Open, not to mention two Ryder Cup appearances and new deals with a string of blue chip sponsors.
Geoff
Reader Comments (31)
Let it and him go Chubby, or you'll start to look like a woman scorned.
His separation from Chandler is hardly a world-shaking matter, and yet...just back from China, with Lee Westwood along (whom Chandler identified in the Yocom article as a real friend -- did he somehow seem just that much more interested in the probably much more interesting Westwood than he did in the young pretender?) Now that, it would seem to me, might be enough to tip young Rory over the edge -- he can hardly complain about the sponsorships and media attention and opportunities he has received while in the Chandler stable.
We'll see.
China was bought and paid for long before they started "talking" and McIlroy was committed, so he had to go. Chubby is doing what he has always done with great aplomb - he's spinning it.
Els has pulled the pin too. More to come and one has to wonder the real reason behind all this. "Something is rotten in the State of Denmark."
On the other side of the coin, Rory's 22 and a little flighty. He dumped his childhood girlfriend, then decides he can't live without her, then dumps her again, then takes up with the tennis queen. What Rory wants, Rory gets ...
One is even more likely to be fired if you hooked up with the person when they were a teenager. I think transitioning from a relationship with a kid with a lot to prove, to an adult who has had success when both people have huge ego's is insanely difficult, no matter how much success they've had together (my 2 cents this is what happened with Tiger and Butch) . It's nobody's fault but rather inevitable when large egos get involved. But lets not pretend that Rory somehow doesn't have an ego, of course he does.
Add to it, an Englishman is receiving too much shine for the sweat of his two Irishmen.
So that RMc could find a home with a couple of fellow Irishmen, free of celebrity manager distraction is too sweet a setup to deny.
McIlroy has talent, incontestably, and possibly the best of those coming up. But all the things they say regarding Woods -- the fields are deeper now -- affect ALL the players, not just him. Has Rory so far aced the fields around him since his first major? There are a lot of guys out there with a major victory. How is it he is feeling so anointed?
Let's see what becomes of him. Right now, all I see is attitude. As with Woods, backed up with talent. But we need a little reinforcement before he becomes the next "chosen one."
Of course Westwood stays. He's a paper tiger who under Chubby has flourished running around the globe chasing easy fields to boost a questionable ranking. Rory doesn't need to do that. Nothing bizarre about his decision at all. BUT, Chubby wants us all to think this is a brash act by a capricious 22 year old and there are plenty who are willing to dizzy themselves in his spin.
Where's the BIG money? Are you kidding? He just signed a multi year deal with Santander worth ten million pounds, which is what, 15 million bucks?
That's fairly large, I'd say.
For those who don't know, Santander is the fifth biggest retail bank in UK.
Meanwhile, let's see if he is more than a one-hot wonder. Charl Schwartzel has as many majors as he does. So do a ton of other people. Maybe Rory is special. But he begins to make the younger Woods look humble, not something that often comes to mind.
McIlroy owes ISM nothing. Any debt he might owe for the professional guidance was paid in full by the commissions received and the prestige being connected to a major championship winner (something Chandler leveraged for all it was worth).
There will be more to this than meets the eye and my guess is that Rory doesn't like the advice he's getting from Chubby/Clarke/ Westwood and he thinks he knows best-only time will tell.
It's easy to criticise Chubby but its worth remembering that he started the business from zero and ended up with one of the finest 'stables' of professional sportsmen in the world-no mean feat.He's far from being the first celebrity manager-ok he had the big 3-but I don't remember Mark McCormack being much of a shrinking violet!
And perhaps in the world I live in, there is something a little unattractive about a 22-year-old firing a much older man who has done nothing other than work for his best interests for years. Can we have a little perspective here? He has won precisely twice on the European Tour and, what, once (aside from the US Open, which is one of the two European wins) more in the US.? That's a fine start to a career, and he has placed well in a lot of events, hence his ranking in a period when the spoils are scattered so widely. But he is behaving as if he is the second coming of Woods, and I'm just not sure the evidence is in yet. It looks as if it may come, but golf is a fickle mistress.
He should do well on the PGA Tour. He seems to have a massive sense of entitlement.
As much as my dislike for Chandler's public campaign to equate everything about American professional golf to rubbish would lead me to believe he was the catalyst for the split, I'd bet it was mainly because McIlroy will be joining the US Tour is looking for representation that has more contacts and history of success in the states.
Speaking of distaste for the way Chandler does things, is there any more obviously emasculating attempt to tear down Rory for his choice that to say his girlfriend made him do it (I guess it beats saying the 2010 US Open Champion and former ISM client got into his ear)? If Rory doesn't make the right choice all the time, (and by the way, we've heard nothing from Team McIlroy about the split but a thanks for the memories PR quote) he is 22. What is Chandler's excuse?
Waiting for Scooby Doo to pull that mask off.
I don't think Els was with ISM that long -- seems only a year or so ago he joined them. He, too, has been concentrating his efforts stateside especially since his son;s autism was announced, as he thinks there will be better treatment there for Ben. So once again, perhaps an agency more active in the US is the determinant.
P.S. Not Holly Sweeney.
Do you have any idea what he's making in endorsements already? Not marketable??? what are you smoking????
He's sponsored by a bank. Good for him. He's also sponsored by some symbol on his shirt/hat (?) that looks like maybe a resort or vacation destination or something. They pay him well, but I bet he wants the big ones: shoe, drink, fast food, etc and he's just not that guy. Sorry, but that seems fairly obvious at this point. You win the US Open and get a bank sponsor? The agent can't be the only reason for that, is what I'm saying. It's also him.
Here is a link to a story from June of 2011 that suggests Rory could eclipse Tigers earnings from endorsements:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rory-mcilroy-could-rival-tiger-203696
From visible logos etc, here is my list of his endorsements:
Jumeirah - very high-end resort company, must the be symbol you are referring to. When he showed up with this endorsement a while back, I knew he had hit the big leagues.
Oakley - clothing and eyewear.
Santander - one of the world's largest banks, also one of the sponsors of the Ferrari F1 Team - the most expensive sport on the face of the planet.
It doesn't get much bigger than that. Fast food?? what are you talking about ?
He might be interested in a car contract.
And who knows how long Tiger's contract with that Japanese version of Vicks' Vapo-Rub will last? They might be looking soon.