Fresh off his first tournament win of the year, Rory McIlroy was to switch his focus from the course to a courtroom yesterday for the start of his multi-million dollar case against his former management company.
The four-time major winner initiated the case against Dublin-based Horizon Sports Management and its leading agent at the end of 2013, claiming he was misled into signing a contract with the company.
McIlroy has said in court papers that he signed the contract at Horizon’s Christmas party “in circumstances of great informality” and without having seen a draft of the agreement before it was given to him to sign.
The Northern Irishman signed a deal with Horizon until 2017, with the Dublin-based company expected to receive a percentage of his financial dealings.
After signing a number of lucrative sponsorship agreements, including a deal with Nike in early 2013 worth a guaranteed US$100 million over five years, McIlroy decided that his relationship with Horizon was no longer in his best interests.
Horizon is counter-suing, claiming McIlroy owes it millions of dollars in commissions.
McIlroy, who left Horizon to form his own management company in 2013, is expected to testify in court this week. He is coming off a victory at the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday.
Speaking before the tournament, McIlroy said he hopes the court case “won’t take that long, and we can get on with our lives.”
“It’s not something you want hanging over your head and it’s not something I’d want anyone to go through, it’s not a nice process,” McIlroy said.
“It’s a shame it’s gone this far and that two sides see things completely differently. The only way to sort it out is to get a judge to come in and tell us what to do,” he said.
The case could last up to eight weeks.
McIlroy said last week that he is not expecting to practice much over the next two weeks, and will spend the week before the Honda Classic, which is scheduled to start on Feb. 26, hitting with his coach Michael Bannon in Florida.
The world No. 1 has started the year well, finishing second at the Abu Dhabi Championship in his first event of the year before winning in Dubai by three shots.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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