Tom McKibbin walked away from his LIV Golf debut with an extra $1.03million in the bank after he tied for 15th in Riyadh and his Legion XIII romped to a 13-shot win in the team event.
Poland’s Adrian Meronk claimed the $4million individual title when he overcame a mini wobble on the back nine and closed with a one-under 71 to win by two shots from Legion XIII’s Jon Rahm and Torque GC’s Sebastian Munoz on 17-under.
Rahm shot 67 and Munoz a 71 while McKibbin double-bogeyed his final hole and shot a level par 72 to share 15th with Matthew Wolff and Ben Campbell on 10-under.
That closing double bogey cost McKibbin an extra $85,000, but he still won $285,000 for his share of 15th and another $750,000 as his share of the $3m team prize as Legion XIII won by 11 shots from Cameron Smith’s Ripper and Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats on 50-under-par.
“I’ve always said the mission is clear; we compete to win,” team captain Rahm said after Tyrrell Hatton shot 70 to tie for sixth on 13-under with Caleb Surrat a shot further back in 11th after a 71.
“I think we’re all that way individually, and as a team, it shows, and with the addition of Tom, he’s a world-class player; it’s just people haven’t seen it yet.
“It’s really made us stronger, and with the new format, like I’ve been saying all week, I think it’s to our benefit.
“Luckily, we had a nice cushion going into today, and we could afford not to have our best day as a team, but still, it was a decisive win and I’m very happy we got to start the year again like this.”
On McKibbin, Rahm added: “I think it’s really nice for Tom. I guess all of us on the team have won our first LIV start as a team now, with Caleb, Tyrrell and I doing it last year.
“So I think it’s nice, and it should give him a lot of confidence to come in, first week, play that well, and get the team win.
“That way, that’s out of the way. You’ve already accomplished it, and now all you can do is get better.”
Meanwhile, China’s Li Haotong shot a five-under 67 to take a two-shot lead over England’s Brandon Robinson Thompson into the final round of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
He leads by 13-under in Doha, with Conor Purcell tied for 33rd on three under after a 70.