Chubby Chandler - Final Shot

GMAC left you before he won the US Open, which was before any of your players had won a major ...

Yeah, but luckily I didn't have long to think about it – only three weeks [when Oosthuizen won the Open Championship]. GMAC was a really good champion and opened the door for a bunch of guys who realised they too were good enough to win majors. He may have been the catalyst for what's happened since.

Does it get any better than Darren Clarke winning the Open?

[Laughs] No. I know how hard he's worked and what he's been through. What he did at Royal St George's was amazing. I think he's probably extended a few guys' careers as a result. I think Westwood took something out of it too. He saw an older guy, competitive but nowhere near as fit as he is. Lee probably now thinks he has eight or 10 more chances at the majors that he did before.

Who would you like to manage that you're not currently?

Nobody.

What about Tiger?

That's not a fair question. I'm not going to get the opportunity so it doesn't matter. People ask me what I would do with Tiger's situation before, but I don't know because I don't know the full story. Believe me, we are very happy with where we are and who we've got. I don't look enviously at anything. We've got the number two and number three in the world. I'm very happy.

Looking back, was what happened at Augusta a good experience for Rory?

Definitely. He was struggling a bit on that last day and made a couple of wrong decisions. Actually, he didn't stop and think about what was happening. He needed to slow himself down. Some things conspired against him too. It was a slow round, and he's a very quick player. He was playing with a guy [Angel Cabrera] who doesn't speak English and doesn't really engage, after he'd played the previous rounds with his mates [Jason Day and Rickie Fowler]. There were a few things that unsettled him but he learnt from that.

Even before his US Open win, the offers must have been pouring in for Rory. How much do you know what to charge people for his services?

Absolutely – we constantly get enquiries. It's a good question and it's interesting, because you just find out as you go along. Actually, you find out by people saying 'no'.

Well Santander [the British retail bank, who recently signed Rory for a multi-year deal rumored to be worth in excess of US$5 million] clearly didn't say 'no' ...

That's right. That's a great deal for Rory. The television exposure – Rory will appear in terrestrial TV ads for them – is good for him and good for golf. Santander have five million account holders in the UK and one of their deals is that if Rory wins a major next year, all those account holders will get an extra one per cent interest on their accounts. There are different reasons for doing different things, but the Santander deal is a great one.

With Rory committed to playing in America next year, will that limit his Asian appearances, particularly with regard to the Hong Kong Open?

No, I think he'll still come out here at the end of the year. The timing is good. Hong Kong is one of his favourite tournaments. He loves the city, he loves the golf course and he likes the people. There's every chance he'll play again next year.