Rory McIlroy comes under heavy fire from former agent

One would be hard-pressed to find someone more vocal in his support of the PGA Tour and critical of LIV Golf than Rory McIlroy. And one of McIlroy’s former associates doesn’t think that’s helping McIlroy.

Chubby Chandler, who was McIlroy’s agent until the fall of 2011, feels that McIlroy’s ardent defense of the PGA Tour and increased media accessibility has not helped McIlroy on the course.

Chandler shared his feelings in an interview with Kevin Garside of i.

“To me he has got carried away as mouthpiece of the PGA Tour. He is doing things he shouldn’t be doing and opening his mouth too often,” Chandler said. “The interview on the fairway [at the Masters], absolutely brilliant TV but not good for Rory McIlroy. You can’t be having a chat with a guy in the commentary box about the day and the way he is playing, or whatever, then get over a wedge and give it 100%. You would never have got [Jack] Nicklaus doing it. You would never have got Tiger [Woods] doing it.

Chandler was McIlroy’s agent when he won his first major at the 2011 U.S. Open. He was also McIlroy’s agent two months earlier at the 2011 Masters when McIlroy carried a four-stroke lead into the final round but fired an 80 on Sunday to finish in a tie for 15th. Now, 12 years later, McIlroy still does not have a Masters win, the only thing keeping him from a career grand slam.

While McIlroy has missed the cut at two of the last three Masters, he still has a strong history at Augusta. McIlroy has seven top-10 finishes at the Masters, including a second-place finish in 2022. Seeing that success, it would seem logical to say that McIlroy will win at Augusta one day.

But Chandler is not convinced. He also thinks that McIlroy’s desire to win the Masters has hurt him at the other three majors.

“If you were a betting man you would probably bet against him winning,” he said. “He has made winning the grand slam a bigger thing in his head than it actually is. He is not really driven by number of wins or number of majors per se, but he seems to be driven by wanting to win the grand slam. It’s a massive mental block and it’s getting harder and harder. Every time he gets there he has the pressure from everyone else, but also from himself.”

[inews.co.uk]