Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley have gained a significant financial benefit from the £12.5 million sterling sale of the International Sports Management group, to which they are attached. There are six Irish players with the group, the others being David Higgins, Gary Murphy, Peter Lawrie and Raymond Burns.

Founded by Andrew "Chubby" Chandler, ISM has been acquired by the Sports Resource Group, an AIM-listed (the UK stock market for smaller companies) agency owned by entrepreneur Chris Akers.

"From an operational standpoint, nothing has changed," said ISM's legal representative Dougie Heather yesterday. "Chubby will remain in change and the group will retain its keen interest in Irish players."

Akers's thinking in buying ISM was that it would give him a presence in what he sees as an expanding market of smaller, independent operators. "As sports broadcasters spend more in payments for sports rights, so are sponsors paying more to broadcasters," he said. "There's no capital risk and the margins are high."

As the former chairman of Leeds Sporting, Akers developed Sports Internet from a shell vehicle to its eventual sale to BskyB for £301 sterling.

It is understood that Chandler shared a sizeable portion of the sale price among his leading players who also include Andrew Coltart and David Howell.