Chubby Chandler believes Rory McIlroy has “performed the most unbelievable 180 turn” in his stance on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
Rory McIlroy’s ex-manager Chubby Chandler thinks that the golfer has had a drastic change in his views on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf in 2024. The four-time major champion has made an incredible 180-degree shift in his stance.
Chandler expressed his thoughts on McIlroy in a private conversation with GolfMagic and InstantCasinos.com.
In October 2011, McIlroy ended his professional relationship with Chandler, who had been his agent and manager since the beginning of his career.
This decision came shortly after McIlroy’s victory at the US Open, which marked his first major title win. He later expressed to Irishgolfdesk.com that he believed he was not heading in the direction he desired.
McIlroy was understood to have regretted giving up his PGA Tour card at the end of 2010, as well as passing up the opportunity to compete in the 2011 Players Championship at famed TPC Sawgrass.
Since then, it’s fair to say McIlroy and Chander have never quite seen eye-to-eye.
In 2024, Chandler does not harbour any ill feelings towards McIlroy but raises doubts about his recent remarks in the context of professional golf.
McIlroy has been among the most vocal critics of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League on the PGA Tour, claiming that it had no chance of success when it was introduced in 2022.
“He also questioned whether PGA Tour members who transitioned to LIV Golf should be allowed to rejoin the tour at any point in the future.”
Heading into the beginning of the current season, McIlroy has reduced his negative comments about LIV, after stepping down from his position as a player director on the PGA Tour Policy Board.
Not just a little but a lot.
After watching his European Ryder Cup teammates Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton switch to the LIV Golf League this season, McIlroy now believes PGA Tour members should be able to “come back and play”.
Last month, McIlroy told the media he wants the PGA Tour and LIV to come together to create a Champions League of Golf.
Chandler is not only baffled by McIlroy’s radical change of opinion about the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, but also how he can come up with the exact same idea as LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman in 1995.
Norman wanted to achieve a world golf tour some 20 years ago but was soon refused.
Speaking exclusively to GolfMagic, McIlroy’s former manager Chandler said:
I was alright with Rory, I mean as history has shown now Rory has got an opinion and he will tell you what his opinion is, and he is quite happy to apologise that he’s got it wrong, which he does many times.
“Right at the moment he is performing the most unbelievable 180 turn isn’t he, it’s just unbelievable!
“Suddenly, you’ve got this 80-man world tour that is his idea, well that is what Greg Norman was trying to do in 1995, that is exactly what he was doing!
“Rory has got this great idea that it’s the Champions League of golf, and he’s right, that is what should happen, but it’s interesting that he thinks this is a new idea.”
Despite Chandler’s latest criticism of McIlroy, he does consider the Northern Irishman has his best chance of completing the career grand slam this season as a result of walking away from the PGA Tour Policy Board.
Chandler would love to see McIlroy get back to basics though at Augusta this April:
“I always thought from the start the one major Rory would win would be The Masters because he hits a high, loopy draw and hits it miles. That is The Masters for you. He could stand on 13 and whip it round the corner easier than anybody, and on 14 he could hold it up the left-hand side. There are so many draw shots at Augusta, you just thought he was going to do it.
“I think the meltdown in 2011 when he had the bad back nine there, I think that has obviously left a scar. He’s had a couple of other near-misses, which probably also leaves a scar. It’s just bizarre The Masters is the one he can’t win and is the one he’s finding hardest to win.
“I think maybe this year he has got as good a chance as he has had for a long time. Hopefully he has got his mind uncluttered and he has got decent form.
“Rory is such a good player, to me the most exciting player to watch, it seems bizarre that some of the naturalness out of his game has gone. To me he looks really awkward when he tries to play a cut and he tries to hold up. If he goes back to the big, strong draw, that is obviously okay for Augusta, so who knows. He might not be the best wedge player today, but he will kill it.”
Chandler was speaking in association with InstantCasinos.com
Will Rory McIlroy win The Masters and complete the career grand slam in 2024? What do you make of Chandler’s comments about McIlroy?