McIlroy 'disinterested' as former agent claims he made mistake Woods never made
Rory McIlroy's former manager and golf agent Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler has sensationally claimed that his former client looks 'disinterested' by the game due to the emotional toll of his leadership role within the PGA Tour - but the Northern Irishman was quick to respond.
McIlroy started his first round at the Players Championship in blistering form, shooting five under par on the back nine. The lightning-fast start will be a major boost for the former world No.1, who was denied a return to the summit by Scottie Scheffler, who swooped in with a five-shot victory en route to glory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last weekend. Producing a six-under-par back nine on Saturday, hopes were high that the four-time major winner was on course for victory at Bay Hill Club and Lodge.
However, any grounds for optimism proved premature for McIlroy as he returned to the course on the following day - with a regrettable opening four-over-par round of 76. Eventually, he ended a mercurial weekend performance some 14 shots short of the triumphant Scheffler.
Now, his ex-representative Chandler has admitted that he feels the 34-year-old's head does not appear focused on the job at hand in 2024. Reflecting on his collapse in Florida and his overall demeanour currently, McIlroy's old agent admitted to BetIdeas: "Rory looks disinterested to me.
READ MORE: PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan provides update on LIV Golf merger
Bubba Watson shares details of horror knee injury ahead of LIV Golf debut
READ MORE: Sky Sports pundit blasts major champion's proposal to make dramatic PGA Tour changes
"He doesn’t look sharp. It looks to me at the moment that last year took an awful lot out of him and suddenly he got let down and he’s finding it hard to get back up again. That’s what it looks like to me. There is no spark in his eyes, no twinkle."
Chandler continued that he feels the two-time PGA Championship winner has lost a certain spark, saying: "He had about an hour and a half on the Saturday afternoon where he was like the old Rory, but you know that bouncy step he has when he’s playing well, it’s not there and I’m sure that year out of his life, or 18 months, took its toll."
"And don’t forget with Rory, he’s got a lot of cash," the International Sports Management director posited, as he mooted reasons why the superstar has struggled to hit the heights of previous years so far in 2024, before comparing him to Tiger Woods. "He and Tiger have got billions and the rest haven’t. I can’t imagine having a billion dollars and playing as hard as he does.
Click to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sport and entertainment stories.
Rory McIlroy's former manager Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler has given his verdict on his ex-client's recent showingsOn top of these remarks, Chandler also addressed whether he felt his old client could muster up some of the magic which has helped him to four majors down the years. This week, McIlroy is competing at the Players Championship as he looks to emerge victorious at TPC Sawgrass for a first time since 2019.
His ex-agent continued: "He looks like he is finding the game a grind. Last week he wasn’t there for it at PGA National, he wasn’t there for it at the Arnold Palmer, those are two nice events for him. It’s worrying, before asserting: "It will be interesting to see how fired up he gets this week."
Not finished there, the man known to fans as 'Chubby' also gave his verdict on McIlroy's star turn as one of the key names featured in Netflix's 'Full Swing'. He added: "Rory was front and centre of Full Swing. I don’t see how he couldn’t see that was happening to him.
"Either he was getting well paid for it or he liked seeing his quotes up in lights all the time because you’d never have got Nicklaus or Tiger doing it. They would never have sacrificed a year of their lives, he’s playing not as well as they can do, for the sake of fighting for the PGA Tour - and he’s not even American."
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
