Tom McKibbin trails Adrian Meronk by six shots heading into the final round, but with Legion XIII leading the team event by 11 strokes, he’s on track to make $1,358,000 on his debut in the LIV Riyadh event in Saudi Arabia.
Polish star Meronk added a 66 to his opening 62 to lead the race for the $4m individual prize by two shots from Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz on 16-under.
Australia’s Lucas Herbert lies third, two shots further back after a 64 with McKibbin tied for sixth with Matthew Wolff and his team captain Jon Rahm, who shot 67, on 10-under.
The Newtownabbey native (22) made four birdies and a bogey to add a 69 to his opening 65 and should he finish there, he he stands to win $608,333 in the individual event.
However, with teammates Tyrrell Hatton and Caleb Surrat matching Rahm with 67s, Legion XIII leads the team event by 11 shots from Torque GC’s Munoz, Joaquin Niemann, Carlos Ortiz and Mito Pareira on 42-under.
If Legion XIII wins the team event, McKibbin will pocket another $750,000 as his share of the $3m team purse.
Rahm still hopes to challenge for the individual prize himself, but he remains impressed by McKibbin’s debut performance under lights and the team’s chances.
“Yeah, he’s a fantastic player, and to be honest, he doesn’t really look like he has any weaknesses,” Rahm said.
“He drives the ball great, hits it a long way, looks very good with the wedges and rolls it nicely.
“When you’re consistent across all aspects of the game, you’re going to be there or thereabouts. Yeah, he’s a fantastic player.
“Like I said earlier, I think we all expect him to do pretty well out here. It’ll take a little bit of time for him to get used to it with the warm-up situation on the range and finding a rhythm and being ready to go straight away when you get on the golf course, but so far he’s dealt with that really well.
“I’m sure he’ll go out tomorrow and put another good round of golf together.”
Rahm regretted playing the par fives in just level par but he still thinks he has a chance in the individual event.
“There were plenty of good breaks and plenty of good moments throughout the round,” he said.
“So I think if I can put it all together tomorrow, maybe have a low round like Meronk had in the first round, I can give myself a chance.”
The Spaniard won the season-long points standings last year to earn an extra $18m, and he’d like to do it again this season.
“The fact that you’ve done it once is great, but if you want to be considered a great player or the best, you have to do it continuously, right?” he said.
“So the motivation is still there. It’s a brand new year and a fresh start, and that’s the beauty about golf.”
Graeme McDowell shot a second successive 70 to share 27th on four-under.