The Callaway branded cap and, more especially, the red Legion XIII logo on the grey sweater provide the telltale signs of Tom McKibbin’s allegiances in his professional life these days, part of LIV Golf – where he numbers Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton among his team-mates – yet able, for now, to dip his toes back into the DP World Tour.
So it is that McKibbin is on the putting green at The K Club in his team colours but very much back in individual mode for this latest foray on to the European circuit. It is his fourth appearance in the Amgen Irish Open and his sights are set on contending after a strong rookie season on LIV.
Just 22 years of age, McKibbin – who turned pro when still a teenager – has packed a lot into his career with greater ambitions ahead. His breakthrough DP World Tour win came in the Omega European Masters high in the Alps in 2023 and the move to LIV has been successful, with Legion XIII winning the team championship, but it is back to his roots in his quest to find another win for himself.
The Irish Open kicks off a stretch of events for McKibbin back in Europe, that will also take in next week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and then the Dunhill Links in Scotland the week after the Ryder Cup, where he intends to be a couch potato following the action on television from Bethpage where both Rahm and Hatton will be playing for Europe. The Spanish Open is also on the upcoming itinerary.
READ MORE
“I’d love to get another win. It’s been two years since my last one, so I’d love to get out there and just put myself in a position each week to hopefully contend,” said McKibbin of playing in three of the next four weeks with the aim also of consolidating his position in the Race to Dubai and hopefully also improving his world ranking.
One of the consequences of his move to LIV, where there are no official world ranking points available, is that McKibbin has had to feed off limited opportunities, which explains why he has fallen out of the world’s top-100 down to a current position of 153rd, which doesn’t truly reflect his abilities.
“I want to come back here and sort of take what I have learned and how I’ve played all of the year and really try and make a dent in the next four or five events,” said McKibbin.
Part of what he has learned this year has been in hanging out with Rahm and Hatton. He knew Hatton and had played with him on the DP World Tour before making the switch to LIV. Rahm, though, was new to him.
“I didn’t know Jon at all, actually. I’d played with Tyrrell a couple of times in Dubai, and then at the Team Cup this year, and just [seeing] how good they are, especially under pressure, they’re very, very, very good. Jon is an incredible player, and he’s up there literally every single week. So I think they’re just both great competitors.
“They want to do well and I think once the gun goes off, they’re very focused in that way and able to provide the results when they need to,” said McKibbin of moving into that competitive environment and making it part of his own development.
McKibbin got in some practice alongside Mark Power and Alex Maguire – both playing on sponsor’s invites this week – as part of getting reacquainted with the challenges of the Palmer North course and was impressed with what he found:
“This would be one of my favourite styles of golf. Parkland, with a good premium for driving it well. I think obviously it’s quite a tight driving course. There’s trees and the rough’s a little juicy. I think with the weather, it’s meant to be quite windy. It’s hard, but I think, with the conditions, it’ll probably be quite tricky, throughout the whole game.”
Although an individual win has so far escaped McKibbin this season, his form in aiding and abetting Legion XIII to team dominance has been impressive.
“I’ve been playing nicely so hopefully I can bring a little bit of that form into this week. The course is looking good and with the way my game’s shaping up, and I like the course ... hopefully I can have a good week.”
