Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler, the founder of one of the most iconic golf agencies in Europe, ISM Golf, has been quiet in recent years until now! In an exclusive with the Daily Mirror he was quick to point out why some of his former stars have jumped to LIV Golf, as they are past their prime and unable to compete on the PGA TOUR.
The main player in question was Lee Westwood. Who Chubby managed during his prime and even though he doesn’t blame the former World No.1 or any of the other over 40 year-olds for taking the vast sums on offer by LIV Golf.
Chandler went on to explain: “For Sergio [Garcia], [Ian] Poulter it was obvious, [Henrik] Stenson, Richard Bland, all these guys there was no doubt that this was a wonderful carrot for them and to get in at the beginning. All the added riches on the PGA Tour are not going to make that much difference to Poulter, Westwood, Stenson because they are past it. They wouldn’t like me saying it, but their days of supreme competition are probably gone. But three rounds, and slightly less pressured stuff is probably right up their street.”
Chandler also believes these players would have known how their brand names would have taken a hit in Europe the moment they signed with Greg Norman’s new Tour. “When they took the jump I don’t think they expected anything else,” he added.
“I think their days as a bog-standard European Tour player were finished and probably the LIV lawyers have said this is probably against this, that and the other. And they [the players] are the ones who came up with the opposition to it.”
Though one of Chandler’s former players, Rory McIlroy, has made a stance against the Saudi backed LIV Golf Tour but it didn’t come as a surprise to the former super-agent: “I think he has always had an opinion, Rory. Whether he was 16, 18, 20, 25, 30, he has always had an opinion.
“He has an opinion that everybody wants to listen to and if you asked honestly if he had wished he hadn’t said a couple of the things he had said he probably wished he hadn’t. But that is Rory, his whole life he has never been afraid of saying something and apologising for getting it wrong.”
