Golf: The man behind Rory McIlroy

The Tiger Woods era is over, here comes the Rory McIlroy era.

As America digested the impact of the young Northern Ireland player's runaway triumph at the U.S. Open at Congressional CC, many were ready to move on from Woods and his grotesque infidelities that in part stained the name of golf.

As one U.S. golf writer said on Monday "I couldn't give a **** if I never heard the name Tiger friggin' Woods again."

It was rather like that great quote from Rolling Stone Keith Richards. "I admire his work but I couldn't warm to him if I was cremated next to him."

Right now, a lot of people feel that way about the discredited Woods.

So world golf was looking out for a clean cut, humble, genius of a player with an engaging smile and delightful, uncomplicated personality. Well, wouldn't you know it - along came Rory McIlroy, sauntering jauntily down the fairways of the Bethesda course, not being brash or arrogant about his annihilation of the entire field and treating his triumph (as he had his tragedies) in the way the great Rudyard Kipling always espoused....as twin imposters.

The man who will now ensure McIlroy capitalises on his first golfing major is 58 year-old Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler, a former professional golfer who is Managing Director of the players' agent company 'International Sports Management'.

As McIlroy sat and told the world's media what it felt like to have the U.S. Open trophy in his grasp, Chandler recalled the day he first met the young man. McIlroy is now 22 but this is no 'Johnny-Come-Lately' partnership.

"He is today the boy I met 10 years ago" said Chandler. "He was 12 and we first met at Darren Clarke's Junior Golf Foundation at Portmarnock Links. We were lucky enough to have him along and made a relationship with him straightaway because he was obviously very good....and very nice.

"We met his Mum & Dad a year after so I have known them nine years. It was one of those great happenings in one's life when that sort of thing occurs because with a talent like Rory's, you would normally have 10 management companies fighting over him.

"It didn't happen like that at all. We were always in prime position."

Chandler would swear to his last breath that nothing, no success or money in the world, would change McIlroy. "I don't expect him to change at all. He is a nice guy and he has won. Firstly, he is so special because of his golf talent. But his Mum & Dad have done a fantastic job because they have brought him up brilliantly.

"People might wonder whether we have had to teach him how to handle things, the fuss and attention...sort of thing. But we haven't done that at all. He has got that from his Mum & Dad. There has never been any issue like that, about how hard he works, or what he says or that sort of thing.

"You can't praise his parents highly enough for they both had many jobs to finance him as a junior."

And the growing up process began far earlier for young Rory than would normally have been the case with most kids. "He travelled a bit then so he probably grew up quite quickly through travelling" said Chandler.

"He played in the US for the first time when he was 8. In fact, there was a young kid here whom he went to stay with and he is going to turn professional in a couple of weeks time. I was sat with him and they showed Rory winning the junior thing at Doral when he was 8, and the lad said 'That's me...beside Rory'.

"He was second and he was in the photo. I had to ask him which was which"!!

Few agents could profess to know a particular client, whatever their field, as well as Chandler knows McIlroy. "He has always had the same humility and way about him. He has a great way of respecting people. He respects the game, too.

"We were saying at Augusta, he probably needed to become a bit tougher and it happened very quickly."

How did he do it? Chandler said that the youngster had a lot of phone calls in the light of his heart-breaking final round of 80 at the Masters which cost him the title after he had dominated the field. Among them were some of the greats of the game; Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Greg Norman. "He took little bits of advice from everybody and that's what happened.

"I am surprised he has turned it around in just 10 weeks but I think there were two big things."

One was the trip to Malaysia straight after the Masters denouement at Augusta. Chandler thinks it got McIlroy over it quite quickly, especially as he had to share the private jet with the man who had snatched the title from him, South African Charl Schwartzel, who is also in Chandler's stable.

"He went and competed there with the lad that won it which was probably great for him. Then going to Haiti two weeks ago. He has always said, 'I am not sure what the fuss is....golf is just a game'. Well, when he went to Haiti, golf really was just a game. What goes on in Haiti bears no resemblance to making 80 on the last day at Augusta. I think he matured a lot from that, he just put things in perspective even more than he had already."

Chandler may not know the precise amount McIlroy's U.S. Open win will prove to be worth. But he does know one thing for certain. "There is no reason at all why he can't go on and win a stack more major titles.

"He is blessed with an unbelievable amount of talent and I think the whole of golf recognised that in the last four days. He has got more talent than maybe anybody out there."

So the new Tiger Woods, especially as so many people are apparently itching to see the back of a former hero who is now seen as arrogant, totally selfish and ruthless?

Chandler shook his head. "No, but he might be the new Rory McIlroy. He is not the same as Tiger Woods, he is totally different. So let's say maybe it's the start of a Rory McIlroy era. He will be a great ambassador for the game and he will be a global ambassador."