‘Chubby’ Chandler has admitted it was a blow and a shock to lose reigning U.S. Open champion, Rory McIlroy as one of his ISM stable of players.

In a frank interview on an Irish radio station, the affable Englishman revealed more details behind one of the biggest break-ups in sports management circles in recent years.

“We had two minutes in an airport lounge at the end of a nine-day trip,” said Chandler in an interview with Newstalk.

'Chubby' Chandler meets with former F1 team boss, Eddie Jordan moments after Rory McIlroy captured the 2011 U.S. Open. (Photo - www.golfbytourmiss.com)

“Rory said to me ‘this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, I want to freshen up things and change my management company.’

“So that’s it, you move on and we’ve got new players, and he’s got a new manager, and he’ll win seven or eight majors as he would have done with or without us.”

Last year proved a Major Championship windfall for Chandler’s Manchester-based management company.

The year began with South African Charl Schwartzel capturing the Masters before McIlroy then won the U.S. Open.

A few weeks later, Darren Clarke and one of Chandler’s first signings for ISM, won golf’s oldest Major in winning The Open.

But while Schwartzel’s and Clarke’s success was outstanding, to lose a player of McIlroy’s star quality cut deep and opened-up a huge wound.

It was not the first time Chandler has ‘lost’ quality players as evident by Graeme McDowell’s move to Horizon Sports Management and the same team that McIlroy signed, along with the departure of triple Major winning Ernie Els.

“It was a blow, and it was a shock,” added Chandler.

“But like I say, at my age, having done it this long, you sort of get to understand that you win some, you lose some, but yeah, that was a big loss, but there’s been a lot of big wins along the way, and there’s no point in being down, I’m alive, kicking and moving on.”

* Chandler’s quotes also appeared in the Irish Examiner, and in a newspaper I report on the European Tour regularly.