Tom McKibbin will neither verify nor deny his plans to affix LIV Golf.
Chatting with Golf Digest Center East on Wednesday on the DP World Tour’s Workforce Cup in Abu Dhabi, the 22-year-old McKibbin declined to debate a number of current studies that he was nearing a deal to affix Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII workforce.
“I’m not gonna make any feedback this week out of respect for Justin [Rose] and Luke [Donald] and this event,” McKibbin mentioned. “It’s a workforce occasion, so I’m simply attempting to present my finest to the workforce and see what number of factors I can get.”
If he have been to affix the Saudi-backed league, which begins its fourth season subsequent month in Saudi Arabia, McKibbin would forfeit the PGA Tour card that he earned through the Race to Dubai final yr. McKibbin, who’s from the identical Northern Eire membership as Rory McIlroy (Holywood Golf Membership), counts McIlroy as a mentor.
McKibbin’s path has mirrored McIlroy in different methods, too, as McKibbin opted to not play school golf, backing out of his verbal dedication to Florida in 2020. He turned professional that subsequent yr after not being a lock to make the 2021 Nice Britain and Eire Walker Cup workforce, and he captured his first DP World Tour title on the 2023 Porsche European Open.
Presently, McKibbin is ranked No. 110 within the Official World Golf Rating.
The Workforce Cup, beforehand often called the Hero Cup, debuted two years in the past, borrowing parts from the outdated Seve Trophy, which was final contested in 2013. McKibbin is on the Nice Britain and Eire squad together with Rose (the captain), Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton, who joined Rahm’s LIV franchise previous to final season.
Whereas Legion’s opening alongside Rahm, Hatton and Caleb Surratt stays unfilled, a number of LIV groups have lately introduced roster provides, together with Cleeks (Frederik Kjettrup), RangeGoats (Ben Campbell and Bubba Watson) and Stinger (Branden Grace).
