SHANGHAI, CHINA | Far and away the
most interesting facet of Rory McIl-
roy’s sudden departure from ISM has
been the way in which Chubby Chan-
dler has dealt with the news. Had he
had a management man standing over
him, he doubtless would
have been schooled to
say something pretty
meaningless along the
lines of “these things
happen” or “golf is an
ever-changing game.”
Instead, he spoke from
the heart. He was hurt
– and not least because
he felt that he had done
a good job for the young
AudioLink
RORY MCILROY
TALKS ABOUT HIS
SPLIT WITH AGENT
CHUBBY CHANDLER
Ulsterman. He worried out loud as to
whether McIlroy had seen him as too
much of a “celebrity manager,” and he
wished that he had moved more quickly
on the McIlroy website which was one of
the things which the player apparently
had felt was not up to scratch.
McIlroy, though he had been advised
by Conor Ridge, his new manager, to
say that his role was to concentrate on
trying to win more tournaments, did
open up a bit. He admitted that telling
Chandler had added up “to the most dif-
ficult conversation of my life ... Chubby
has been there for me since Day 1.”
“For four years,” he continued, “I felt
that Chubby was the best guy and ISM
were fantastic for me, but sometimes to
progress you need to have a fresh view
on things. It’s all about me trying to play
my best golf and that’s all there is to it.”
It would seem as the changeover
has happened more smoothly than
most anticipated. Ridge and Chandler
spoke on the day it happened and, after
Ridge said that he wanted to speak to
Chandler face to face, they met in
Macau two Mondays ago.
Jean Van de Velde, who was at
Sheshan in his capacity as an occasion-
al commentator, will receive a Lifetime
Service to Golf award at the forthcom-
ing Scottish PGA Christmas dinner.
European Tour shortly after winning the
Madeira Island Open in 2006.
Darren Clarke said that there is a
story that needs to be told, one that has
nothing to do with him. Though he had
not played in K.J. Choi’s recent event –
the CJ Invitational – in Korea, he wanted
everyone to know how much of himself
Choi had poured into the occasion.
“K.J. doesn’t get a whole lot of pub-
licity but my goodness he deserves it,”
said the Open champion.
At the start of the tournament week,
Choi had gone out with a can of spray
paint and made a series of alterations,
not just by way of improving things for
the players but for spectators. That
done, he oversaw the movement of
boards, stakes and ropes, along with
Rory McIlroy said the split with agent
Chubby Chandler was “all about me trying to
play my best golf and that’s all there is to it.”
the digging of holes that it all entailed.
There were nightly sponsors’ din-
ners at the tournament and he attended
the lot. And, as if that were not enough,
he went on to win the tournament.
“He’s the best golfing ambassador
of them all,” said Grant Slack, the
managing director of IMG Golf China.
The men from the Basque country
have a tradition of giving acrobatic dis-
plays to impress their partners, while
the golden-collared manakin executes
an elaborate ballet-type routine. As
for McIlroy, he took part in a dragon
dance in front of his girlfriend, Caroline
Wozniacki.
McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Keegan
Bradley, Adam Scott and Francesco
Molinari constituted the dancing A
