McIlroy to Move from Golf Course to Courtroom


On Monday Rory McIlroy said he is taking a break from golf to prepare for an upcoming court battle with his former management company. So far, the top-ranked player in the game will miss the first two events in the European Tour's Final Series, also called the Race to Dubai, next week's BMW Masters and the following week's WGC HSBC Champions. Both will be played in Shanghai, China.

The 25-year-old Northern Irishman, a three-time winner in 2014 - including the final two majors, the British Open and PGA Championship, recently was named Player of the Year by both the PGA of America and PGA Tour. But he plans to step away from the European Tour's main season-ending events - except for the tour finale in Dubai - to focus on a lawsuit he's filed against his former management company, Horizon Sports.

"I'm going to need time away from tournament golf to prepare for the trial over my legal dispute with Horizon Sports Management," McIlroy said in a statement. "The court-directed mediation process failed over the weekend to resolve the issue."

McIlroy was with Horizon for two years before leaving in May 2013 to start a new management company. In his legal filing in Ireland, he claims Horizon took advantage of his youth and a dearth of legal advice in his first agreement.

According to a report published by Forbes when McIlroy sued Horizon in 2013, "The agreed-upon commissions entitled Horizon Sports Management to a 20 percent fee on all off-the-course income received by McIlroy. The golfer claims that the excessive commissions result in an unconscionable contract, and that an athlete of McIlroy's stature should not have to pay more than 7 percent to an agent as a result of earnings from endorsement deals. He alleges that he was young, naive and failed to have the support of legal counsel when he executed the agreement containing such a compensation structure. Horizon is countering by suing for a reported $3 million for a breach of contract."

Since splitting with Horizon, McIlroy formed his own management company, Rory McIlroy Inc. But when he was with Horizon he signed lucrative contracts with Nike and other major sponsors such as Omega and Bose, leading Horizon to believe it is due commissions paid on those agreements as well as future commissions, all of which could run into the tens of millions dollars.

One of the interesting sidelights to the lawsuit is the involvement of McIlroy's friend and fellow Ulsterman, Graeme McDowell, also a Horizon client. McIlroy's lawyers allege that McDowell - who they claim is a Horizon shareholder - was on "markedly superior" commercial terms. Horizon has denied that was the case.

The two players were teammates on the victorious European team at last month's Ryder Cup in Scotland. At the time both said their relationship had been strengthened by the issue. McDowell is leaving Horizon when his contract expires at the end of 2014 and also plans to establish up his own management company.

McIlroy's lawyers are demanding that documentation showing McDowell's contractual arrangements with Horizon be made available for the Dublin court hearing, slated for February, in which case financial details of McDowell's contract with Horizon could become public knowledge.