Former agent Andrew “Chubby” Chandler of Rory McIlroy indicated that the Northern Irishman might consider joining LIV Golf; the Northern Irishman has responded to the rumors regarding his future.
After being mentioned as a potential transfer by his former agent Andrew “Chubby” Chandler to LIV Golf, Rory McIlroy declined to rule out making the unexpected move.
One of LIV’s harshest critics in the past, McIlroy acknowledged he would sooner “retire” than join Phil Mickelson and company in the breakaway league. Since then, the Northern Irishman has reportedly changed his mind about the rival league, which has led Chandler to speculate that he might actually pull off the unthinkable.
The former agent told Bunkered, “I think number one, there’s a 10% possibility he’s favoring his way to sign for LIV.” However, he realizes that the whole fighting and squabbling is bad for golf.
“The amounts of money being spoken must be shocking to the average man on the street.” Now that he has spoken out about his former agent’s remarks, McIlroy has hinted that there might be some truth to the allegations. The Northern Irishman disclosed, “I spoke to Chubby,” prior to this week’s Cognizant Classic.
“Earlier in the year, I believe I saw him in the Middle East. Never know. He may be somewhat knowledgeable [about a LIV Golf move]. Who is to know?” After Chandler revised his assessment of LIV’s chances of joining from “strong chance” to “10 percent,” McIlroy continued, “Maybe in the middle.” Who knows?”
The four-time major champion acknowledged at the beginning of the year that he might have been a little too harsh on the players and the Saudi-backed league’s ascent. In January, McIlroy said to Sky Bet’s Stick to Football, “I think at this point, I was maybe a little judgmental of the guys who went to LIV golf at the start, and I think it was a bit of a mistake on my part because I now realise that not everyone is in my position or in Tiger Woods’ position.”
Over the past two years, I believe I’ve come to the realization that all athletes become professionals in order to support themselves through their passions. If there is anything I regret, it’s probably being too critical of others from the beginning because I can’t judge them for their choice.” The 34-year-old recently stated that he was amenable to his LIV rivals making a future comeback to the PGA Tour in a different capacity.
Speaking in January at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, McIlroy expressed his belief that, given the impending merger of the two competing circuits, players like Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, and Brooks Koepka should be free to return to the PGA Tour without fear of repercussions.
I think it’s hard to punish people,” he claimed. “I don’t think there should be a punishment for – obviously I’ve changed my tune on that because I see where golf is and I see that having a diminished PGA Tour and having a diminished LIV Tour or anything else is bad for both parties.”
Leave a Reply