How involved are you with each player's schedule?
Very. I sit down with all of them. Rory is finding out right now what he wants to do and how he wants to do it. He goes from one extreme to the other sometimes. He goes from not playing at all, but then he's on the road for 12 weeks. Lee on the other hand is different and I have more input on his schedule. We sat down this week and discussed next year. From the second week of January, after he's had his winter break, through to August, all he thinks about are the majors. Then he has a two-week holiday after the PGA Championship and from September to January he'll play where he wants. I don't think he'll ever join the PGA Tour but there's every chance he'll spend a bit more time here in Asia.
You've said that you need to be protective of Rory because you're worried about burnout. How many events is he playing a year?
This year will be about 28, 29. Rory makes a lot of his own decisions. He's 22 and finding out. He has no real fixed idea what he wants. He was a member of the [PGA] Tour for a year then jacked it in, and now he's going to rejoin next year. There's a couple of things that have influenced that. Life in Belfast has changed for him and as the US Open champion he feels a responsibility to be a member of the PGA Tour. I could see him in a year or two thinking differently, but the fact is that Rory is always going to be in a position to do what he wants. Rory has his own ideas and doesn't want to be told what to do. He wants to figure it out himself.
Some of your players have received criticism, mostly from the American media, for appearing in tournaments in Asia that offer appearance fees. How do you respond to that?
Yeah, but there's appearance money in America, they just don't want to admit it. Four tournaments in America offered Rory appearance money this year. They don't see that if you do nine holes with clients, do a hospitality visit and have a dinner – which is all paid for my a company – that is what we call appearance fees. They call it a promotional deal. It's the same thing. The daft thing is that the Golf Channel have been ribbing Rory for playing this week – talking about how much cash he must have made, the fact he's on a bit of a boys' trip – but I know that when we arrive in Bermuda tomorrow, Rory will be the first person they'll want to interview. They want it both ways. They want to absolutely slaughter them but they can't survive without them.
What mistakes have you made along the way?
GMAC [Graeme McDowell] was one. I hold my hands up. There was a guy working for us who I thought had a very close relationship with GMAC. I thought he was giving him the support that he needed. But that didn't prove to be the case. When Rory came onboard, GMAC felt he was being neglected and at the same time he got a good offer to join someone else. But that was down to me. If things aren't working out the buck stops with me, not with anyone else.
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