McIlroy still ‘very close’ to Chandler

Rory McIlroy says he remains “very close” to Andrew “Chubby” Chandler – the man he dropped as his manager last month – and insists there was “nothing personal at all” in the move.

Northern Ireland’s US Open champion walked out of the stable which had four of the last six major winners, plus world No 2 Lee Westwood, to join Dublin-based Horizon.

“It’s a decision I didn’t take lightly,” McIlroy said on the eve of this week’s WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai. “I thought long and hard about it and had a lot of chats with my mum and dad. Sometimes to go forward in your career you just need to make decisions.”

McIlroy told Chandler, head of International Sports Management, he was leaving prior to last week’s Shanghai Masters, where he then scooped the biggest first prize in the sport – £1.25 million – after a play-off with American Anthony Kim.

“For four years I felt Chubby was the best guy and ISM were fantastic for me, but sometimes to progress you need to have a fresh view on things,” added McIlroy. “It’s about me trying to play my best golf and that’s all there is to it.

“I feel like a new environment around me it might enable me to play even better and I feel like I’m moving on to the next stage of my career.

“Chubby’s been there for me since day one and it was very difficult for me. I remain very close to him – it was a purely business decision and nothing personal at all. I’ve got all the time in the world for Chubby and everyone involved at ISM.”

Last week’s event did not count towards the European money list, but this week’s world championship does and, with world No 1 Luke Donald pulling out to await the birth of his second daughter, McIlroy can cut his lead at the top from £1.12m to £404,000.

The 22-year-old still has the Hong Kong Open on 1-4 December and the following week’s Dubai World Championship to come, but Donald will be back for the second of those.

Lee Westwood – who remains with Chandler in the IMG stable – has the chance to achieve another milestone in his career this weekend – the biggest earner in European Tour history.

In a clear sign of the times, the opportunity comes not in Europe, but in China at the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament where Westwood finished runner-up last year, one shot behind Francesco Molinari and nine clear of the rest.

For years, the top of the career money list was fought out between Colin Montgomerie and Ernie Els. Montgomerie, though, has not had a victory for well over four years and Els has not even had a top ten finish on the circuit since he won the South African Open last December.

The 42-year-old still heads the table with £22.4m, but Westwood is now up to £22.2m and first prize in Shanghai is more than £720,000. That figure is still dwarfed, of course, by the £1.25m won by McIlroy across town on Sunday, but this event carries world ranking points and counts towards this season’s European money list race. It was this time last year that Westwood went to world No 1 for the first time.

And the Englishman recalled: “I played like world No 1 in the tournament – unfortunately Francesco played a little bit better.”

The Italian finished 19 under par to his Ryder Cup team-mate’s 18 under, with Donald and Scot Richie Ramsay next best at nine under.