Henrik Stenson’s controversial move to the LIV Golf Series was brokered by billionaire British agency CM Management, along with four other big-name defectors. Stenson rocked the golfing world last week when giving up his European Ryder Cup captaincy to complete the switch ahead of LIV’s third event in Bedminster.
As well as the Swede, four Englishmen in Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sam Horsfield and Laurie Canter were all also represented by CM Management when signing on the LIV dotted line, according to the Telegraph. With all five LIV rebels earning eye-watering amounts in signing on fees, the rumours within the players’ locker room is that the Banbury-based agency also made a pretty penny off the deals too.
An agent told the Telegraph: “In usual circumstances the agency would take 15 to 20 percent of appearance fees, but surely that cannot be the case here as it would mean they have raked in eight figures in the space of a few months.
“The consensus is they must be on something like five percent of the joining fee and a percentage of the on-course earnings, which as first place is $4 million and last place is $120,000, would also be a pretty sum. But they won’t be getting much commission from normal sponsorship, because sponsors are walking away from the LIV players, although Poulter has got a crypto-currency exchange on board.”
Poulter’s name has been at the centre of the LIV Golf controversy, as the once European golf legend launched a legal attack upon the DP World Tour, after being banned from the recent Scottish Open. The Englishman was successful in an appeal, and competed both at The Renaissance Club and the Open Championship at St Andrews a week later, where he was booed by spectators on the first tee.
Poulter is not the only man to rebel against the tour though, as CM’s managing director Ollie Banks held a senior role alongside DP World bosses until late last year. Banks acted as a head of player strategy after being promoted from account executive by CEO Keith Pelley in 2018.
An insider told the Telegraph: “It obviously doesn’t sit well with the Tour because of the knowledge Ollie has. But there was nothing in his contract to stop him jumping, without going on gardening leave.” Banks was brought into the agency by the Dunkley family, who alongside Poulter’s long-term caddie Terry Mundy are CM’s significant shareholders.
The Ryder Cup stalwart’s connections do not stop there though, as Poulter also holds a strong relationship with CM boss Paul Dunkley, who proved pivotal in the English golfer’s junior years when financing his first year on tour back in the 1990’s. Whilst playing a pivotal role in creating the foundation of LIV, CM Management have been at the centre of Ryder Cup Europe’s recent chaos.
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As well as snatching 2023 skipper Stenson, both Poulter and Westwood were shoe-ins for future captaincy roles but the prospects of this now seem dead in the water. Another agent told the Telegraph: “It’s easy and overly-emotional to say they have decimated Europe’s Ryder Cup ranks.
"And you don’t have to be Einstein to understand how the channels of communication between Stenson and LIV were kept open. But they are not the only agency making rich harvest out of all this. Look at GSE. They are like a conveyor belt for LIV and must have a direct debit set up from Riyadh.”
GSE represents some of the biggest names on the LIV Golf circuit, including Bryson DeChambeau, Louis Oosthuizen, Abraham Ancer as well as another two European Ryder Cup legends in Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia. It is now understood that both CM and GSE represent almost a third of the 48-man field that is heading to Bedminster for the Saudi Series’ third event later this month.
