Rory dumps ISM

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The BBC is reporting that Rory has dumped ISM as his management company and is moving to the Dublin based Horizon.
Horizonsports.ie doesn't even have a working website. Why do you think he has done this? Does he want to be the big cheese?

does Hoizon have better connection though Mac? I dont think they are any better positioned than ISM.
The best they could get for the previous US Open winner was those awful srixons and a clothes deal with a small chain in Dublin (Louis Copeland)

Mac

What's the evidence that these new guys are any better placed to make those deals? The bloke in charge of Horizon may or may not have all sorts of highflying contacts, but he certainly doesn't have a business CV to match Chandler's at ISM. And anyway, I reckon I could negotiate McIlroy a Nike deal at near-enough Tiger levels, never mind Chubby, he's the easiest person in golf to market. That theory doesn't ring true to me... to be honest the idea that Horizon offer a more golf-centric schedule with less media fluff makes more sense.

I may be being a bit of a conspiracy theorist here but I believe there is simply something of and under current something neither part is making us aware of. Horizon have done exactly what for McDowells career.

So they are putting their eggs in Rory's basket and hoping this so called new face of golf in tigers absence can raise their own profile more than Gtwat ever could. He is going to be their poster boy so will get preferential treatment by them that he doesn't get as part of the chubby stable, and why should he get it..

Horizon now have GMac and Rory, but the most telling thing that's come out of all this was the twitter from Lee when the story broke. "Seems bizzare to me ..."

Teamchubster are a very close group, especially when overseas, and all hunker down in a big rented house. They practice together, eat together and usually have families with them Earlier this year Ernie walked away, but probably understandable, as he's not been ripping trees up for a few years and probably needs a change. The other SA players are getting on well though, and of course Darren and Lee are old school. But so too was Rory, as it was Darren who took him under his wing as a kid, and even let him have JP as his caddy. he's been around this lot forever and it's done him no arm has it. GMac has been ruined this year, due to the club changing thing which was done through Horizon, and yes he's got a few million in endoresents this year, but he won a major. You would think that Rory would be a bit wary of Horizon after seeing his mate decline so much. But probably just wants and Irish feel, seems crazy though

in Horizons defence Doc they were GMACs management when he won the US Open so you cant blame them for the subsequent decline without giving any credit for the success.

Doc,
I think the Ernie departure was entirely geographical, but may also suggest that Chubbers is struggling with PGA Tour presence, which Rory doesn't mention. Oosthuizen certainly c0cked up his schedule this year.
Ernie hasn't pulled up any trees in 2011, but his 2010 was pretty darn sporty.

hend085 wrote:in Horizons defence Doc they were GMACs management when he won the US Open so you cant blame them for the subsequent decline without giving any credit for the success.

It's this that i find the most bizarre in terms of credit for success, there is no correlation of a management company making a golfer a success on the course. Not physically possible. Off the course though yes. But even with his subsequent US Open win was he that succesful off the course, maybe helped sell a few pints of guiness but not much else

I think GMac helped increase the sales of overly tight fitting cardigans to fat accountants.

I think the nub of it is what Mav said in his last post. To be honest there's not a lot management companies do directly in terms of on-course performance. Which means the only way we as fans can measure them against each other is by financial prowess, who earns most endorsements and so on. What we might be overlooking is the fact that these players are all multi-millionaires anyway, so they might not even care all that much about a bit of extra sponsorship. It might be that they choose their management mainly on the basis of what just feels most comfortable for their lifestyle or whatever... and of course we haven't got any way of measuring that.

i was thinking about poulter the other day- he must lose loads because he wears his own stuff(and misses out on abit of sponsership), but then so what he earns enough big bucks. he made the choice to help promote his own business and thats that.

Ned your point of them not chasing more money is good in theory... but why did Rory play in the mickey mouse open in Shanghai with nothing official on offer when he could have tried to catch Luke in the race to dubai by playing Valderamma?

I read a piece from the Irish Times earlier in the year, which stated that with GMac's new found fame, he had signed endoresents for £9m per year, for 3-years. Check his shirts, hat and bag etc. So in one respect he's made for life and can afford to anything he wants, but if he wants to play and win at golf, he needs to concentrate again. Changing his trusty Calloway's for Srixon and big bucks has been a bad move. You don't change something thats made you a fortune.

Is Rory just wanting to earn as much cash as possible, in the shortest period of time, because that's what it looks like, because as hendo said he should be chasing the ET crown instead of prostituting himself last week. OK he earned a shed load, but ....

No one can be sure whether it's a change of clubs which has made the difference. Winning a major is a life changing experience and like many before him he might just have lost focus and motivation, bit like Darren Clarke.

I did not claim that Horizon can provide rory with a better endorsement revenue rather that he thinks they will and hence the reason he moved. I would doubt very much your management company has much affect on your on course efforts. Although in F1 both Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen have become unhappy about sponsor requirements on their time and brought that into on track performance. Could it be the same for a golfer?

So is it really fair for Rory to claim this was all about the golf and not about the money?

McLaren wrote:

So is it really fair for Rory to claim this was all about the golf and not about the money?

In a word, no. But who knows what went on. I suspect one of two things, someone has his ear and has influenced him. Or there has been some fall out or clash with Chubby or one of his people.
At the end of the day though, who cares.

Of course it is not serious enough for anyone to really care but as a fan of golf I would prefer if Mcilroy had come out with a more genuine reason for the change.

Not that I particularly care, the below is my thought...

I don't believe for one second that the change of management will have any adverse effect on Rory, if anything as he says it could be exactly what is needed for him to take his career to the next stage.

On the face of things I would agree that its a bit of a slap in the face for Chubby considering (I imagine) he owes much to him in terms of guidance in going from Amateur > Pro > Major winner in 4 years, but it could have an adverse effect on him also as because of ISMs help Rory may have found it difficult to reject certain Sponsorship days/Tourny invites etc due to an emotional attachment to both ISM/Chubby/Stuart Cage et al. Under an entirely fresh management team I think it would be more of a business relationship so perhaps he will have more control over exactly where/when he will play.

I would doubt he would be much better of financially (marginal in terms of % Horizon Vs ISM I'd guess) unless of course ISM had him by the short and curlies??? Your talking about a Young man whom already is vastly wealthy before ever playing/winning another tournament, I read recently that most management/agents recoup 3-5% of their representatives, if we are talking a difference of 1, 2 even 3% of someone earning potentially up to £15M per year, hes not really that much better of.

With regard to GMac and specifically switching to Srixon, I'm sure I read last year that Callaway were in finacial diff's (rumoured to be going bust) and would struggle to match his then deal let alone beat it after his major win/season performance. And who can blame him for signing on deals to net him in excess of £9M per year before even striking a ball? He has been very poor by comparison this season, but the change in clubs is only a small part of it, I feel his allround play is just nowhere near last season, take Valderama for eg: his driving was generally very good, however his build up and approach play was dreadful, way off target and missing greens by yards. Very poor ball striking if you ask me. Equipment wise any Pro should be able to play with any "custom fit" club, if its not within reasonable range of target then theres something wrong unrelated to the equipment.

Mac, I've just read elsewhere what I believe to be the most plausible explanation of the lot ...

"Chubby has said in a recent Q&A that ISM stresses to their athletes that the global markets of Middle East and Asia are the future of the game so they will be part of the global strategy. Rory has said more than once that he prefers the PGA and now he wants to concentrate on winning more on the PGA so I suspect he fears the global strategy with ISM will compromise his stated goals. "

The "global strategy" meaning deal-making from which these companies make their money. Chubby will presumably make less money out of Rory by going west instead of east?

Gael,

I guess it is possible rory feels his game will suffer if he has to travel to asia more often than he would like. Although the £1 million or so he just won proves it has its benefits.

Rory probably wants to stay playing in the USA because that's where his current girlfriend is based. He changed his mind about playing in the States at the end of last year when his previous girlfriend (who got the push half way through the year) was living in NI. Where he'll want to play when he moves on to the next girlfriend is anyone's guess!

I suspect Chubby advised against joining the PGA Tour for 2012 (and Gael's comment seems to bear that out) so Rory decided to go with someone who would be more Master than Commander.

Just my thoughts ....