“Opening his mouth too often”: Rory McIlroy faces heavy backlash by former agent

Last week, Rory McIlroy failed to make a cut at the 2023 Masters in a shocking turn of events, which meant his wait for the grand slam continued. As per his former manager Chubby Chandler, the reason behind his failure at Augusta National is that he gives too much importance to it.

Chandler suggests that unless McIlroy separates himself from the historical significance attached to winning the Masters, he might never win at Augusta National.

He was quoted as saying via The i, a British morning daily:

“If you were a betting man you would probably bet against him winning. He has made winning the grand slam a bigger thing in his head than it actually is. He is not really driven by number of wins or number of majors per se, but he seems to be driven by wanting to win the grand slam"

He added that it was a huge mental block and was getting tougher and tougher for the Northern Irishman.

"Every time he gets there he has the pressure from everyone else, but also from himself.”

Rory came close to winning the Masters in 2011 but slipped to 15th place after a horrible fourth round. Chandler feels McIlroy is a victim of his success and the mental block at the Masters has increased with his increasing influence and stature in professional golf.

“To me he has got carried away as mouthpiece of the PGA Tour. He is doing things he shouldn’t be doing and opening his mouth too often. The interview on the fairway [at the Augusta], absolutely brilliant TV but not good for Rory McIlroy. You can’t be having a chat with a guy in the commentary box about the day and the way he is playing, or whatever, then get over a wedge and give it 100 per cent."

Chandler said it would have never happened to Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods as they would have never done it. He felt that earlier all McIlroy needed to do was play golf and now he is being made a political figure with a lot of big sponsors.

"And they (sponsors) take up time. He now has Workday [software firm]. Workday put an ad on TV, that will take a day of his time," Chandler told The i . "That clutter manifests itself on the course. He needs to get away from a lot of that, and just trust his talent.”

Chandler also added that despite all this, McIlroy has had a fantastic career and should be praised for that.

“You can’t dismiss what he has done. He is a fantastically talented golfer who has amassed a massive bank account, his parents are taken care of, he has a great little family and his best mate is on the bag. I can’t see much to complain about. I’m sure he is very content with his life right now.”

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Rory Mcilroy at the Masters over the years

Rory Mcilroy missed the cut at The 2023 Masters

Here are Rory McIlroy's results at the Masters over the years:

• 2010: CUT
• 2011: T15
• 2012: T40
• 2013: T25
• 2014: T8
• 2015: 4
• 2016: T10
• 2017: T7
• 2018: T5
• 2019: T21
• 2020: T5
• 2021: CUT
• 2022: 2
• 2023: CUT