Tom

McKibbin

Comparisons with four-time major champion Rory McIlroy have become inevitable for Tom McKibbin.

Born in December 2002 in Newtownabbey, a suburb of Belfast, he started playing golf from the age of seven and followed in the footsteps of his boyhood hero, learning his craft at Holywood Golf Club which is McIlroy’s home course.

He has his parents to thank for realising he was serious about his golfing ambition as they arranged lessons with PGA coach Johnny Foster, who has advised McKibbin ever since.

In 2018 he was selected to play for McIlroy’s team in the Major Champions Invitational, a junior event created by Sir Nick Faldo designed to showcase golf’s up and coming young talents.

“Just to play under his name is great,” McKibbin said in the surroundings of Bella Collina’s golf course in Orlando. 

He went on to make a big impression in the best way possible, winning the individual event and even collecting a hole-in-one at the 16th during his second round.

McKibbin came close to a significant amateur win aged just 17, when he finished runner-up to Jed Morgan at the 2020 Australian Amateur Championship.

After five days of golf at Royal Queensland GC, McKibbin and Morgan of Australia had emerged from the 198 hopefuls that had started the tournament.

The pair went head-to-head over two rounds of matchplay golf and it was Morgan – playing on his home course and with his brother on the bag – who soon raced into the lead, going 6-up by the time they had finished on the 12th green.

After the first 18 holes Morgan carried a lead of four going into the afternoon’s play. Again, it was the Aussie who attacked the course early on and birdies on two and three restored his six-hole advantage.

McKibbin, with his father Robin acting as faithful caddie, fought back and by the 11th hole had reduced that deficit to three in rainy conditions.

With four holes to play however, Morgan had stretched his lead to 4-up again and was in the boss seat.

After overshooting the hole from a greenside bunker on 15, McKibbin conceded to leave Morgan as the champion with a 5&3 win.

“I felt I played okay, but I had a couple of loose holes in the first 18, and it just didn’t go my way today,” McKibbin said.

McKibbin had been due to attend the University of Florida to take his golf career to the next level, but the Covid pandemic disrupted his plans.

“I was meant to go to the University of Florida in the States just when Covid hit,” he told Golf Digest.

“But it was very hard to juggle the schoolwork being back at home [in Ireland] and then having to do the exams in the States.

“Plus, everything being pushed back a year and having to do double the work I just decided to go a different way.

“Looking back at it now, I think I’ve made a good call.”

He turned professional in April 2021, aged 18, and registered his first pro win the following January on the Minor League Golf Tour in Florida.

McKibbin launched a sensational comeback for his first pro win at the two-round Major I at Coral Springs in January 2022.

After the first round of the Minor League Golf event, American Eric Cole was two strokes ahead of the field after carding a 61 and held a five-stroke advantage over McKibbin.

Cole followed up with a 68 in the second and final round but the Belfast boy fired a sizzling 62 to snatch victory by one shot.

While the prize money of $10,000 may seem small by today’s standards, it was a big step in McKibbin’s fledgling career.

At the end of the 2022 Challenge Tour season, he was 10th on the points list, earning his DP World Tour card for 2023.

A magical approach shot to the last hole was the highlight of McKibbin’s maiden win on the DP World Tour at the 2023 Porsche European Open in Hamburg.

There was a six-way tie for the lead as Sunday’s play got underway and it was McKibbin who forced his way to the front with birdies on the fourth, seventh and ninth to move two shots clear of the field by the turn.

The back nine proved more problematic and while he bogeyed the 11th and 13th holes, home favorite Max Kieffer was holding par up ahead and then birdied the 16th to join McKibbin at the top of the leaderboard.

In a following group, McKibbin birdied the 15th to restore a one-stroke lead but saved the biggest crowd-pleasing moment for his second shot on the par-5 18th hole.

Facing a 203-yard approach over water and with a tree in his direct line of vision, McKibbin launched the ball cleanly, and it curved towards the green before settling within 15 feet of the flag.

McKibbin two-putted comfortably for a birdie that secured a final round 70, 9-under-par for the tournament and two strokes ahead of Kieffer, German Marcel Siem and Julien Geurrier of France.

“It probably won’t sink in until tomorrow but to have my dad here, to win in front of him is pretty amazing,” McKibbin said.

“I always thought I was good enough to win but to prove it today was pretty special.”

He came up against Siem again at the 2024 Italian Open, with both players tied at 10-under-par after 72 holes.

This time it was the German who came out on top at the first playoff hole.

Also through 2024 McKibbin made his debut at two majors. In June he made the cut in the US Open and finished T41 at Pinehurst.

He followed that up in July with a T66 in the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon.

Last summer McKibbin made a bold decision to change his caddie halfway through his DP World Tour season.

Veteran looper Dave McNeilly had been by his side since February 2023 and was his bag man for his European Open win.

But after a run of three missed cuts in five events, McKibbin turned to an old friend for help ahead of September’s Irish Open.

In stepped Ricky McCormick, a golf pro based at Holywood Golf Club who had first held the bag when the youngster had turned professional.

“I just needed to switch it up a little bit,” McKibbin said at the time.

“I had been playing well all year, but yeah, I needed something different.

“Ricky, I’ve known him for 10, 11, 12 years. Someone that knows my game quite well, and he’s caddied for me before.

“I’m very comfortable with him, and he does a good job for me.”

McKibbin, who is a touring professional for Galgorm Castle Golf Club in Ballymena, has continued to work with countryman and PGA coach Johnny Foster since his early days.

“When you’re young and not too strong, you use your hands more than you should to manipulate the clubface,” McKibbin told Golf Digest.

“For me, that created a big draw. It got me in some tricky situations, so I switched to a fade.

“Getting stronger in the gym helped me use my body more instead of my hands, which naturally led to the fade.

“It took a couple of months to make the change, but it’s all I play now.”

He also emphasized the importance of getting away from the driving range and onto the green stuff.

“I see Johnny four times a week,” he said. “We do a lot more on-course work now; everyone should.

“On the course, you get imperfect lies, which you need to practise. You also learn how to deal with intimidating shots.

“Johnny comes to tournaments on Thursday and Friday instead of practice days.

“I want him to see what’s going on instead of me giving him feedback that might be clouded by one bad shot.”