Clarke will only get bigger now - Chubby Chandler

Get in. Darren Clarke is laughing all the way to the bank. Pic: www.golffile.ieDarren Clarke might be thinking of joining WeightWatchers but his manager Chubby Chandler reckons he’s just going to get bigger.

The Big D got a €1m top prize for winning the Open plus a €2.2m bonus for wearing Dunlop Collection clothing.

But that’s just a drop in the ocean compared to the cash that’s about to come his way - a potential windfall of €50 million if he can win another major.

Planning to help Clarke fill his boots over the next few seasons, his manager Chubby Chandler said: “Darren’s already a brand. He is massively popular all over the world. So I think my job for him is going to be very easy. We are able to say more times yes to deals for Darren than we will be to deals offered to Rory.

“Rory, we’ve got to look after, he is so young you could burn him out. Whereas Darren is burned out a few times already.”

Clarke will make more money now because he is guaranteed his spot in all the big money events for the next five years.

He has also got more space for logos on his clothing than any other major player in the Chandler stable and he’s hungry to become an ‘A List’ golfer again after years in the minor leagues.

Chandler said: “He has really missed playing the same schedule as Rory, Lee Westwood, G-Mac, those sort of people.

“He has been going to play in Morocco and Sicily and suddenly his schedule is going to be very similar to all the other guys and he’ll play in West Palm Beach and Miami and all the big events.”

He’s unlikely to join the PGA Tour but will still jet around the world to pick up juicy appearance fees in Asia.

Chandler added: “Darren will feel he is back to where he should be. His appeal is huge in Japan, South Africa, funnily enough, because he drinks and smokes.

“About seven or eight years ago I had someone tell me he is a hero of Japanese middle aged men because he drinks and smokes.

“The phone will never stop ringing but it will be a different sort of phone than Rory gets, a different set of sponsors.

“The great thing about Darren is that he has got room for a few more.”

Clarke has had so many tough years that Chandler believes it was only a matter of time before things turned around for his first client.

He said: “Sometimes it is meant to happen. Darren has paid his dues. You have seen how low he gets. You have seen how he beats himself up.

“For him to win the Open now now was a thing of sheer joy. And he will be a great champion.”

Those tearing their hair out following Clarke’s Open win include Barclays Capital, who ended their relationship with the Irishman at the end of last year.

As for the appearance fees, it appears that ISM will not be short of offers for Clarke’s services.

“There will be big changes with some of these Asia trips where you are paid a little inducement fee,” Chandler said. “He’s going to be on all those. All these things in China are going to be good.”

As for the PGA Tour, Chandler said: “I can’t see him joining them and playing 15 tournaments, what he will do is enjoy playing his 10 and 11 and 12 that he is allowed to.”

The Ulsterman has already said he will join McIlroy in next year’s Honda Classic.