Rory McIlroy’s protege to make Tour return after $5M LIV Golf switch
Rory McIlroy’s protege Tom McKibbin is set to make his first appearance on the DP World Tour since joining LIV Golf, teeing off at the Porsche Singapore Classic this week.
The golfer from Northern Ireland became a significant addition to the LIV roster in the offseason, signing with Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII in a deal reportedly worth $5 million. The move was somewhat surprising to many, given that the 22-year-old had secured a PGA Tour card just three months prior following an impressive season on the DP World Tour.
McKibbin made his debut on the LIV circuit in February and has been making waves ever since, impressing on the green and currently ranking 13th in the league standings after four events.
His last event was at Sentosa Golf Club the previous week, and he has chosen to stay in Singapore to participate in the DP World Tour’s tournament kicking off on Thursday. Prior to competing in the inaugural LIV event in February, McKibbin had played thrice on the Wentworth-based circuit in January.
Since then, he has participated in four events on the Saudi-backed circuit, finishing tied-15th in Riyadh, tied-seventh in Adelaide, tied-sixth in Hong Kong, and tied-25th in Singapore. McKibbin has already tasted victory, having contributed to Legion XIII’s triumph in the team title at the season opener in Riyadh.
McKibbin’s leap to LIV Golf made waves when whispers of his switch began swirling, particularly McIlroy weighed in on the matter at January’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic. McIlroy, who hails from the same Holywood Golf Club in Northern Ireland as McKibbin and has played a guiding role in his career, disclosed that McKibbin had sought his advice upon receiving the LIV proposition late last year.
Despite McIlroy’s reservations about the young golfer relinquishing his PGA Tour privileges for the controversial league, he couldn’t sway McKibbin from making the jump. In the time since, the Legion XIII golfer seems to be relishing his new surroundings alongside Rahm and others. “Obviously the last couple of weeks have been a lot of fun, something that’s been a little bit different to me,” he said in Hong Kong earlier this month
“But I’ve had a great time. Australia was a whole new experience and something that was incredibly fun to be a part of, and I feel like I’ve played some very nice golf the first two weeks, so just trying to keep that going hopefully for the rest of the year.
“Yeah, I turned pro very young, and thankfully had hopefully a lot of success quite young, and hopefully I’m able to sort of take that over to here. It’s something that excites me a lot, and I’m looking forward to just playing this whole year and sort of seeing where that leaves me at the end of it.”
