A newspaper report on Chubby himself, from the Mail on Sunday, 19/7/98
I've been called Chubby since I was 18. It's Ok, everyone calls it. Even my son shouts Chubby if he can't get my attention. There's only one Chubby!
Your rise seems to have mirrored that of Darren Clarke, one of your first signings.
Yes, when he came to me at the end of 1990 I thought it was important that our company was ablr to grow like he was going to. I didn't want him to win the Open in 1992 because we wouldn't have been ready.
Were you ready for Lee?
I was unbelievably lucky to get Lee. His dad rang me the day Darren won the 1993 Belgian Open. He had seen how I had handled Darren and wanted to chat to me about Lee.
So how's business?
We're doing very nicely thankyou. Our turnover nearly trebled last year and in the last 18 months I've had about 8 people wanting to talk to me about buying us out. But the players have shown a lot of loyalty. If I sell out, I'm showing none in rturn. Why should I sell out to make a few quid when they've been approached by every management company under the son and have stuck with me?
Do you all get on?
Stuart Cage is going to be Lee Westwood's best man, Clarke and Lee get on well and I'm very close to Darren.
Can you really be a manager and a friend?
Yes, it's called 'respect'. There's a huge amount of trust involved. They trust me with all their money, and I mean all their money. I buy their houses, cars, everything. They don't even bother with tax.
Why can you do a better job than other mangers?
Most of the guys looking after players are lawyers or accountants. I'm a golfer. I understand golfers.
Are you always on the phone?
I speak twice a day to Lee. I make a special effort to contact them when they're playing badly because otherwise they'll just hide themselves away in a hotel room.
What's the best buzz you get from being a manager?
I love closing a deal and the pat on the back at the end.
So how shrewd are you?
I could have got twice the money I got from Lee's Ping contract. But he's been playing Ping's since he began at 13, so why make him change now for an extra million dollars? His ball and clothing contracts are up for renewal soon and I have about 7 clothing companies and 3 ball companies interested. It's great!!!
Are we going to be seeing less of Lee in Europe in the future?
Over here, it's so frought with politics because IMG own half the tour and every other week is an IMG-owned event. It doesn't bother me too much right now because IMG need Lee as well as Darren to be at their events. I have the players who are the top.
