Rory McIlroy labelled "liability" by former agent on eve of Players Championship

Rory McIlroy’s former agent Andrew “Chubby” Chandler says the Northern Irishman is “more of a liability than the prime minister”.

McIlroy was signed by Chandler when he turned professional in 2007 but their relationship ended in acrimonious circumstances in 2011.

The golfer explained after the split he believed he was being led “down the wrong path” with Chandler by his side.

Giving up his PGA Tour card and not competing in the 2011 Players Championship were among McIlroy’s regrets.

In recent years, Chandler has not held back when offering his opinion on McIlroy. He has spoken proudly of his achievements but also delivered unflinching broadsides.

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Last week, McIlroy explained what his new career goals were after finally completing the career grand slam last April with a play-off victory at The Masters.

McIlroy wouldn’t put a number on it but suggested he does have a target of how many majors he wants to win before he hangs up his clubs.

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Chandler believes it’s not out of the realms of possibility that McIlroy could win 10 majors. But to do that, he has encouraged the PGA Tour star to “play more freely”.

And step away from the microphone.

“Rory talks too much, but he’s an absolute gift for the media,” said Chandler.

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“If he gets a microphone in his hands, he’s a liability in terms of saying anything. He’s more of a liability than the prime minister.

“For a while, he was unbelievable. Everything he said, he had to go back and apologise for a month later, including his marriage.”

McIlroy has now won five majors championships. He is ranked 15th in the all-time men’s major winners, alongside the likes Brooks Koepka, Seve Ballesteros and Byron Nelson.

Undoubtedly, he will be targeting surpassing the haul of six collected by Phil Mickelson and Sir Nick Faldo.

Chandler doesn’t believe McIlroy will reach Tiger Woods‘ tally of 15.

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“Rory McIlroy should play a bit more freely,” he said.

“It shouldn’t be life and death. My guess is that he’ll win another five majors. I don’t think he’ll get to 15 majors, but I think he’ll get to 10.

“At the end of the day, one of the things you’ve got to factor in is how many majors Scottie Scheffler is going to get.

“Rory is 36 so if he’s got six really good years left in him, that’s 24 chances to win more majors. You would think Scottie is going to win at least six of them.”

He added: “So, the analogy is that players like Ernie Els and, for that matter, Lee Westwood, struggled to win majors when Tiger Woods was in his prime because he won so many of them.

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“It’s a similar situation now; it’s easy to say Rory might win a certain number of majors, but if he’s consistently going head-to-head with Scottie Scheffler, he won’t win as many.”

Chandler was speaking to BOYLE Sports.

Rory McIlroy reveals worrying injury update

Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy is supposed to be defending his title this week at The Players Championship.

McIlroy won the PGA Tour’s flagship event for the second time in his career 12 months ago with an electric play-off victory over JJ Spaun.

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But whether or not he will be able to tee up remains to be seen.

McIlroy felt back spasms in his warm-up ahead of the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and was forced to withdraw.

It was initially described as a precautionary move by McIlroy but he has now told the Golf Channel that he likely won’t be arriving at TPC Sawgrass until later in the week.

“The back is being a bit more stubborn than we thought, so I’m staying at home today and tomorrow to continue treatment in South Florida with the hope to travel to Ponte Vedra on Wednesday at some point,” McIlroy said.

The timing is far from ideal for McIlroy.

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He is due to defend his Masters title on 9 April.

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Rory McIlroy labelled “liability” by former agent on eve of Players Championship

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