ISM Founder Chubby Chandler appeared on Golf Channel’s “Morning Drive”
Wednesday to discuss the Turkish Airlines World Golf Finals in Turkey.
Chandler said he was “approached by the Turkish Golf Federation” about
trying to put on an event. He said, “They were being unsuccessful with
the efforts they had and I said, ‘What are you looking at,’ and they
were looking for a seven to eight man field.” Chandler noted, “There's
one gap in the golf market and it's actually to get the eight best
players together, just like tennis does. The ATP Tour Finals are a
massive thing. ... You have the top eight players, and for about the
last month, everybody’s trying to get in the top eight.” He added, “I
figured it would be fun to try and do the same thing in golf, to try and
get the best eight players together at the end of the year and put on
an event like that with very big prize money that people sort of played
for, and we've achieved most of our objectives.” Golf Channel’s Rex
Hoggard said mid-October, when the tournament is being held, is a “very
busy time” for both American and European players and asked, “Was this
the only date you really had available?” Chandler said, “There were no
good dates.” It was a “case of trying to get the tournament on in 2012,
let people see what it was like.” He said he hopes people "will sort of
look at it and go, ‘Wow, that’s different, that’s really good. I like
it,’ and then it gets incorporated into schedules in 2013." Chandler:
"The mess I have appeared to have made this year is only actually just
one year. Next year it will be -- hopefully -- given a proper date where
it doesn’t clash with anything and anybody and it becomes a good
season-ending platform for golf because people want to see the best
players play against each other in that environment” (“Morning Drive,” Golf Channel, 7/4).
