Rory McIlroy’s former manager has expressed his belief in the player’s potential of winning the Masters and completing the career Grand Slam.
In a recent interview with the British newspaper iNews, Chubby Chandler, who represented McIlroy from 2007 until their unexpected breakup in late 2011, discussed McIlroy’s futile search for a green jacket and his missing Slam piece.
“If you were a regular gambler, you would likely wager against him completing the career Grand Slam. In his mind, he has exaggerated how important winning the Grand Slam is. He is not really motivated by the number of victories or majors won, but he does appear to be motivated by the desire to complete the Grand Slam. It’s a major mental hurdle that is becoming increasingly challenging. Every time he arrives, he feels pressure from everyone around him as well as from within.” said Chandler.
In 12 Masters appearances since his second-nine disqualification at Augusta National in 2011, McIlroy has seven top-10 performances, including last year’s backdoor runner-up. However, since carding a second-round 77 and missing the weekend by two shots the previous week, he has missed two of his last three cuts.
Before starting the present Masters, McIlroy acknowledged that his lack of success at Augusta National was not down to a physical reason.
“The majority of challenges, in my opinion, are psychological or emotional rather than physical. I’ve always believed that I have the physical skills necessary to win this competition. To let those physical abilities shine through, however, it’s more important to be in the appropriate frame of mind. It’s almost like I have everything I need to make the pie. All that’s left to do is combine all the ingredients, preheat the oven, and watch it all sort of come together. However, I am confident that I have everything. It is just about putting everything together.
Because of his position on the PGA Tour’s policy board, sponsoring obligations, or even last week’s walk-and-talk interview with CBS, Chandler believes McIlroy is too preoccupied to play well.
He seems to have been distracted as the PGA Tour’s spokesperson. He is engaging in improper behavior and speaking out of turn too frequently.
Although the interview on the Masters’ Fairway is simply fantastic television, it is not good for Rory McIlroy. You cannot be over a wedge and give it your all while conversing with a man in the commentary box about the day, your game, and every detail about your sport. Jack Nicklaus never would have done it. Tiger Woods would never do it, in my opinion.
There was nothing other than smashing a golf ball in his brain while he was flying around Augusta back then if you could see into his skull. He currently has obligations with the PGA Tour, where he is being developed as a political spokesperson, with TV, and with six or seven very significant sponsors. These activities all require time. Today, he has a Workday. It will take a lot of his time to put a TV advertisement on for Workday. The course is affected by these distractions. He needs to leave a lot of these things behind and simply rely on his talent.
More than ten years after parting ways, McIlroy claimed Chandler had taken him “down the wrong path.” McIlroy achieved his first No. 1 ranking since the parting and won three of his four major championships. McIlroy, who has triumphed four times during the summer, is currently rated third in the OWGR.
Now Chandler argues that McIlroy’s inner group is devoid of any critics.
“He makes use of everyone around him.
Nobody can tell him that what he is doing or saying is wrong or why he is acting in this way. Not at all. Fair play, he is his own man; he admits to his shortcomings and offers his sincere apologies. However, some of the things he is doing are hurting and costing him his game, and that cost is probably another 10 tournament victories.
