$255,000,000 Golf superstar Rory McIlroy blasted by former confidante for having ‘no spark in his eyes’ - “He’s got a lot of cash"

It has not been a particularly exciting start to the season for Rory McIlroy. He hasn't won on tour this season. The Irishman has certainly been far from bad, but he hasn't won and he hasn't looked in contention to win any of the mid-level events he's played.

There is something to be said about the early portion of the season not containing events that McIlroy might care too much about. Starting with this weekend's PLAYERS Championship, the schedule gets a lot more important and a lot more challenging.

Andrew "Chubby" Chandler, McIlroy's former agent, believes the golfer just doesn't care as much right now. He said via Golf Magic:

"Rory looks disinterested to me. He doesn’t look sharp. It looks to me at the moment that last year took an awful lot out of him and suddenly he got let down and he’s finding it hard to get back up again."

Chandler says that this is how he perceives McIlroy right now:

"There is no spark in his eyes, no twinkle. He had about an hour and a half on the Saturday afternoon where he was like the old Rory, but you know that bouncy step he has when he’s playing well, it’s not there and I’m sure that year out of his life, or 18 months, took its toll. And don’t forget with Rory, he’s got a lot of cash."

He went on to say that golfers like Rory Mcllroy (with a $255 million net worth via Golf Monthly) and Tiger Woods have plenty of money, so it's not as vital to show up and show out every single weekend. The Arnold Palmer Invitational gave out $4 million to the winner, but even that's not big enough in Chandler's estimation.

He also added that he believes the sport is proving to be "a grind" for McIlroy. Chandler said McIlroy "wasn't there for it" at Arnold Palmer or at PGA National:

"It’s worrying. It will be interesting to see how fired up he gets this week."

The competition and the prestige of the events on the schedule are getting stronger, and Chandler is interested to see whether or not McIlroy can turn it on and get back to his winning ways.

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Rory McIlroy declines LIV Golf move

In recent months, Rory McIlroy's stance towards LIV Golf has softened immensely. It softened so much so that Andrew Chandler mentioned that there might have been a 10% chance that the Irishman would defect.

Rory McIlroy declined to go to LIV

McIlroy jokingly said that the agent might know something and that 10% might be too low. However, he recently put an end to all speculation by saying he's not moving away from the PGA Tour.

He said via Golf.com:

“It’s not for me. It’s the — I’m too much of a traditionalist. I’m too much of a — I’m steeped in the — I love winning golf tournaments and looking at the trophy and seeing that Sam Snead won this trophy or Ben Hogan or Gene Sarazen or Jack Nicklaus or Gary Player or Tiger Woods or Nick Faldo, whoever it is, the people that came before me. Like that to me is a big deal in our game."

He went on to say that he'd like to see some more unity in the future, but that he'll remain on tour.