In a stunning twist ahead of the new season, reports from Spain are suggesting that Northern Ireland hotshot Tom McKibbin could be set to join LIV Golf as he has emerged as the leading target to fill the final spot on Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII team.
McKibbin, 22, earned his PGA Tour card last year by being one of the top-ten finishers on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai who did not already possess playing rights on the American circuit, winning it in a dramatic finish at the DP World Tour Championship.
However, there are growing reports that the Newtownabbey man is going to forego his place on the PGA Tour and instead link up with Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII team in LIV Golf.
There has been no official confirmation from any of LIV, Legion XIII or McKibbin’s camp, but it would be a stunning turn of events should McKibbin link up with the former World No.1 in the breakaway Saudi-funded circuit.
For the second half of last season, the former European Open champion made no secret of his goal to qualify for the PGA Tour this year and he did so with a gutsy performance in the final round in Dubai, capped by two stunning shots on his final hole of the season to set up a birdie to clinch his spot.
That prompted emotional celebrations with good friend Rory McIlroy, who himself had just won a record sixth Race to Dubai title, as the pair realised they would compete side by side on the predominantly American tour next season.
McIlroy made a point of seeking out McKibbin after the final round of the DP World Tour Championship to find out if his protege had won his PGA Tour card.
“I was looking at the leaderboard and I saw Tom got in the top 10 and I thought okay, good, and when I was walking off the last, I didn’t see his name and I see him before I signed my card and he was congratulating me, and I didn’t want to ask – I said, ‘Yay or nay?’,” McIlroy said in Dubai. “And he said, ‘Yes.’
“I’m happy for him. That was a massive goal for him was to get one of those ten cards and go play in America. Super happy for him…I think Europe has a lot of good young players and that obviously bodes well for the future for European golf for Ryder Cups.”
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Instead of joining McIlroy on the PGA Tour, if the reports are to be believed, McKibbin will be linking up with Graeme McDowell on LIV, the former US Open champion a member of Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC team.
That would rule him out of competing on the PGA Tour as players who join the rebel circuit are suspended indefinitely from playing in their events, which would be a surprise given McKibbin’s comments after earning his card.
“It would be pretty amazing to get over there and play some golf. I seem to like to play on the harder courses and I think that suits my game a little more. It’ll be exciting to get over there and see how it goes,” he said.
He would be joining the current individual LIV champion in Rahm, who made an immediate mark after joining a year ago by being the best individual player while competing on a team that included former Ryder Cup star Tyrrell Hatton, rising American player Caleb Surratt and Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent.
It perhaps may be a coincidence but McKibbin will be competing alongside Hatton in this week’s Team Cup in Abu Dhabi, a team event between Great Britain and Ireland and Continental Europe sanctioned by the DP World Tour, before taking part in next week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
McKibbin would replace Vincent, who was relegated from LIV due to his poor performances, and would be the second player in as many years who earned a PGA Tour card but was poached by LIV in the same year after Adrian Meronk jumped ship a year earlier.
The new LIV season begins on February 6-8 in Riyadh, meaning there is no urgency for any announcement, however his place would need to be confirmed by the end of the month as the field is finalised for the season-opener.
McKibbin has been one of the rising stars in golf since he secured his maiden professional win at the European Open two years ago, and he was a play-off away from winning in back-to-back years as he finished tied with Marcel Siem at the Italian Open but lost to the German in extra holes.
There was a strong belief that the former amateur star was well-placed to succeed on the PGA Tour after making the cut at both the US Open and Open Championship, and he has already qualified for this year’s Open at Royal Portrush, but it now appears he could be taking his talents to LIV instead.
Representatives for McKibbin have been contacted for comment.