Chubby Chandler - Final Shot

You said recently that he Americans don't get it, that in 10 years time Asia – and China in particular – will have overtaken the States as the dominant power in golf. Has this trip reaffirmed that?

Yes, definitely. The interesting thing for me has been seeing the development of China as a country. That's the most staggering thing: how much it is has come on in last 10 years. The wealth has filtered down. It's not just the very top that are interested in golf; there are now the beginnings of a big middle class. The HSBC [Champions] is the biggest tournament in Asia and now it's a WGC event. But the Americans don't really have a clue and it'll be interesting to see how many of them will play. I am convinced that in 10 years time the China Tour – never mind the Asian Tour – will be well worth playing on.

You've been called the most powerful man in golf. Are you comfortable with that description?

I struggle with it to be honest. We're just very fortunate to manage who we manage. We have a number of great young players and everything [the major wins] has happened at one. I understand that I do probably have a bit of power but I hate the fact that it's about me and not about them. The fact is the guys are all individuals, but people group them all together because we look after them. They're a bunch of highly talented and highly motivated individuals. We've probably helped to give them a bit of that, but it should be more about them and less about me.

Your situation now is obviously a lot different than when you started ISM in 1989 ...

Absolutely. I got lucky many times, including naming the company. ISM – International Sports Management – could easily have been Chubby's Promotions. They say you make your own luck. I ran into a young amateur that wanted advice about whether he should turn pro or not. We weren't even talking about management. I had played with him and knew he could do very well. At the end of the chat he said, 'OK, but can you run everything for me; I just want to play golf.' That was Darren Clarke.

ISM has traditionally been a very European Tour-centric organisation. But now you're opening new offices in West Palm Beach, Florida. Are you starting to target American players?

There's a bit of that – we have a couple of young American lads now – but Rory is going to live in Florida, as are Louis and Charl. West Palm Beach is a good focal point for us. We want to grown our American involvement organically.

Is there a danger of ISM getting too big?

Yeah, there is. The danger – and it's a throwback to the fact we don't have any contracts in place with anyone, everything is done on a handshake – is that nobody leaves us. We don't have a time limit on anything with our players. But the older ones realise that and understand the emphasis is always going to be on young talent.