Alan Dunbar tees off at Augusta National’s seventh hole during a practice round for the Masters earlier this month. Alan Dunbar has made his decison to join the professional ranks at this week’s Challenge de Madrid official.

Alan Dunbar will be working hard this winter.Alan Dunbar will tee it up in the Masters in April and barring a run of red-hot form he could also remain amateur and take up his invitation to play in the US Open as well.

Alan Dunbar believes he has the game to make it as a professional. When he turns pro remains to be seen. Picture Fran Caffrey www.golffile.ieAlan Dunbar has joined Darren Clarke and world No 3 Lee Westwood in the ISM management stable under new amateur rules.

The famous 17th at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Photo by Craig O’Neal.Rory McIlroy can take his tournament winnings for the past 12 months past the (€8.6m) $10.7 million mark this week. To do so, and to take a stranglehold on the world No 1 ranking he earned for the third time in just nine weeks on Sunday, the kid with the midas touch must win The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke at the 2010 Irish Open. Picture Eoin Clarke/www.golffile.ieRory McIlroy has always prided himself on his “honesty” and saying what’s on his mind when he’s found himself criticised for past remarks or actions.

Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood in action in Switzerland earlier this year. Credit: www.golffile.ieFormer stablemates Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood are set for a tense Shanghai showdown today. But were what Graeme McDowell described as the “jokes with jabs” that they exchanged on Twitter simply the result of a clash of egos or a symptom of a deeper malaise?

Rory McIlroy’s website will be relaunched soon. Rory McIlroy’s new management team has starting transforming his world.

And Dublin based Horizon Sports is making sure it doesn’t make the same mistake as Chubby Chandler by hogging the limelight and becoming “celebrity” managers.

Gary McDowell, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Gerry McIlroy prepare to fee off for the second round of the 2011 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Picture, Stuart Adams, www.golftourimages.comIt’s hard to know which is the bigger story - ‘Rory McIlroy ditches Chubby Chandler ’ or ‘Boutique Irish management company lands another US Open champion.’

The news, broken to Chandler by McIlroy in JFK airport on Wednesday night, came as a shock to the ISM founder. In truth, neither McIlroy’s exodus nor Horizon’s elevation to global player should come as a huge surprise to anyone.

Rory McIlroy and his faithful caddie JP Fitzgerald on the 17th. They made a triple bogey. Picture by Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ieRory McIlroy showed his major winning spirit as he battled to survive the cut in the US PGA. But it remains to be seen when he will return to action again following the risky shot in Thursday’s first round that almost certainly cost him his chance of a second major victory.

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.

Darren Clarke doesn’t earn a penny for wearing the Dunlop logo unless he wins a major. Picture by Phil Inglis/www.golffile.ieDarren Clarke will pocket a cool £2 million bonus from Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley if he lifts the Claret Jung at Sandwich today. Add in the winner’s cheque and it could mean a £3m payout for the Dungannon star before he even starts to think about future endoresement deals.

Rory McIlroy’s back room team needs to wake up and face the fact that he needs help with his putting.

Agent Andrew “Chubby” Chandler has defended the decision by world No 1 Lee Westwood and No 7 Rory McIlroy to skip The Players Championship at Sawgrass.

Speaking to CNN’s Shane O’Donoghue ahead of this week’s Avantha Masters in New Delhi, the founder of the International Sports Management (ISM) stable believes the $9.5m event, which will be played from May 12-15, is not the “fifth Major” but only the ninth or tenth most important tournament in professional golf for his players.

Darren Clarke is to remarry, giving Graeme McDowell yet another “win” this year. McDowell set his fellow Ulsterman up on a blind date with former beauty queen Alison Campbell. Result.

Chubby Chandler publicly said goodbye to Paul McGinley in his weekly column on the ISM website, confirming a split made public several weeks ago.