Rory McIlroy case: Where next for former agents Horizon?

The old adage sometimes proves to be true.

The acorn that Conor Ridge planted when he left Drury's in 2005 to set up his own agency, to be called Horizon Sports Management, grew into something of a mighty oak in the global industry – a boutique Dublin-based company that came to not only rub shoulders with the likes of industry giants IMG and ISM, but able to take them on.

For the past year and a half, as the legal action with its one-time star client Rory McIlroy worked its way into the chambers of the High Court, it seemed that life, as far as growing the agency further, was put on hold.

By the time the case reached court the agency had not only lost McIlroy - in what proved to be an acrimonious split.

By the end of December 2014, its other Major champion, Graeme McDowell, had also departed - albeit on amicable terms.

Wednesday’s settlement in court, under the terms of which Horizon received financial compensation from McIlroy for fees owed to the agency, put closure on that acrimony.

Confidentiality clause

The sum, undisclosed in court and subject to a confidentially clause from both sides, is believed to be $25 million (€22.07 million), which almost amounts to the commission Horizon was due under the signed contracts.

There was no unseemly celebration on the Horizon benches when the settlement was announced.

Ridge, the company's managing director, clasped hands with Padraic O'Reilly, the company secretary.

The gesture was the only public confirmation that the end of this particular journey had been reached.

For Ridge, it means he can again get back out on tour, working with his two main players - Shane Lowry and Ross Fisher - as they go about chasing their own golfing dreams.

Ridge’s own journey with Horizon Sports started out a decade ago, when he left Drury’s to set up his agency.

He had watched as a succession of Irish golfers – Ronan Rafferty, Darren Clarke, Pádraig Harrington, Paul McGinley - sign with international sports agencies, and he set out to establish an agency based in Ireland.

His first clients included Colm Moriarty and Stephen Browne and expanded in time to include Michael Hoey and Gareth Maybin, among others.

However, it was the arrival of Graeme McDowell, who left ISM to join at the end of 2007, that marked an upwardly mobile move for Horizon.

Fisher, an Englishman, followed from IMG and brought an international flavour to the agency.

Invigorating addition

Lowry, after winning the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009, was another invigorating addition to the list of player clients.

McDowell’s breakthrough Major win in the 2010 US Open lifted Horizon to a new level.

At the time, Ridge commented: “It’s why we do what we do, to try and get into the position of managing players who are top-10 in the world, are winning Majors, or whatever it might be.

“It has upped the stakes and put the company on a new level and the opportunity to really test ourselves.”

What it also did was attract McIlroy on board.

The Northern Irishman, now a four-time Major champion and current world number one, joined Horizon in December 2011.

The move catapulted the agency into a new major league as far as sports management was concerned.

As we know, it all went sour.

Although McIlroy won a second Major in his time with Horizon and signed a megadeal with Nike, he wanted away.

The bitter split with McIlroy, which came in May 2013, was to be played out in the chambers of the High Court before a settlement was reached.

In that time, Horizon became, by necessity, a more streamlined company, with fewer employees and fewer clients.

But the financial residue left from the McIlroy settlement puts it on a seemingly strong monetary footing. Going forward, it has, in Lowry and Fisher, two players to further grow the agency. It hasn’t gone away by any means.