Rory McIlroy’s former manager, Chubby Chandler, claimed the 33-year-old has “got carried away” as a mouthpiece for the PGA Tour, which has had a negative impact on his performance on the court.
The Northern Irishman, after another poor Masters showing, pulled out of the RBC Heritage at Harbor View, one of the season’s shiny, new events, this week – an absence that has cost him $3 million in a fine of the Tour.
After his most recent unsuccessful attempt at the career Grand Slam in Augusta, Chandler claimed the four-time major winner’s professional life is too full of things other than his game, including an interview during his Masters opening round, to which the manager insisted. Tiger Woods would never have done it.
“For me, he got carried away as the mouthpiece of the PGA Tour,” Chandler said i. “He does things he shouldn’t and opens his mouth too often.
The interview on the fairway [at the Masters], absolutely brilliant TV, but no good for Rory McIlroy. You can’t talk to a guy in the comment box about the day and the way he’s playing, or whatever, and then get over a wedge and go 100 percent for it. You never would have got it [Jack] Nicklaus does. Then you never would have gotten Tiger [Woods] doing it.
Rory McIlroy’s (L) former manager, Chubby Chandler (R), claimed he ‘got carried away’
Chandler worked with the Northern Irishman until they parted ways in 2011 following his US Open win
“If you could look into his head back in the days when he flew around Augusta, there was nothing in it but to hit a golf ball. Now he has commitments with PGA Tour, where he’s primed as a political figurehead, with TV, with half a dozen really big sponsors.
And they take time. He now has Workday [software company]. Workday put an ad on TV that takes up a day of his time. That mess manifests itself on the track. He has to get away from that a lot and just trust his talent.”
Chandler, who also represented Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen, managed McIlroy for four years until the Northern Irishman divorced him in 2011.
The introduction of mid-round walk-and-talk interviews at this year’s major championship has been hailed as “historic” after McIlroy and Max Homa took part in it during the opening round, before Justin Thomas’s turn on Saturday.
But they didn’t get great optics after both McIlroy and Thomas missed the cut following their mid-round chats with CBS’s Andrew Catalon and Trevor Immelman.
McIlroy’s interview came on Thursday when he shot an opening 72, but a disappointing showing followed on Friday, resulting in a 77 and another Masters missed cut.
Six-time main champ Nick Faldo had blasted the draft, suggesting that McIlroy was not focused enough on the task at hand and he certainly now can’t help but feel validated.
“Every interview I’ve done this week is all about 100 percent concentration on yourself and the task at hand, so why?” Faldo tweeted.
McIlroy’s participation was yet another moment in the spotlight as he continued to support the recent golf revolution.
After his second shot on Augusta’s ninth hole, McIlroy ran through what he felt on his shot
Six-time main champ Nick Faldo had destroyed the concept of the on-course interviews
Chandler claimed McIlroy was a PGA Tour mouthpiece (Photo Commissioner Jay Monahan)
He has become a prominent figure spearheading the fight against LIV Golf and has vocally supported the PGA Tour’s changes, including the mandatory designated events, one of which he is ironically missing this week.
He even admitted that he has sacrificed his game to focus on the PGA Tour’s battle with the Saudi-backed breakaway.
McIlroy was close to earning the coveted Green Jacket and his first major in 2011, until he imploded himself on the back nine of his final round.
He dropped to 15th at Augusta after hitting a tree on 10th, resulting in a seven.
But Chandler claimed that McIlroy’s Masters woes are not a result of the 2011 collapse, but have developed over the past few years as a result of the mental block caused by pressure from outside parties and himself.
“If you were a gambler, you’d probably bet he wouldn’t win. He won the grand slam [all four majors] something bigger in his head than it actually is,” Chandler added.
“He’s not really driven by the number of wins or the number of majors per se, but he seems to be driven by wanting to win the grand slam. It’s a huge mental block and it’s getting harder and harder. Every time he gets there he has pressure from everyone else, but also from himself.’
Chandler suggested that McIlroy should have kept a stronger, more critical voice in his camp, as he “has no one to say this isn’t right” and it costs the player in the form of tournaments.