Tom McKibbin could be set for a dramatic change in direction on his professional career path, with two-time Major champion Jon Rahm targeting the 22-year-old Belfast for his Legion XIII roster on the megabucks Saudi Arabia PIF-backed LIV Golf.
Just two months after securing his full PGA Tour card via the pathway to the US circuit through the DP World Tour, where McKibbin claimed the 10th and final card on offer, Rahm’s attempt to lure the rising star – as reported in the reputable Spanish media outlet Ten Golf – to join his team on LIV has, it would seem, some strong merit.
Such a move would come as a surprise, given McKibbin’s close association with four-time Major champion Rory McIlroy (they are from the same Holywood club in Co Down), who has been one of the most vocal critics in LIV’s arrival and its impact in fracturing men’s professional golf.
Rahm’s team already includes England’s Tyrrell Hatton – who is playing with McKibbin in this week’s Team Cup match in Abu Dhabi, where they are part of the Great Britain and Ireland team against continental Europe – and American Caleb Surratt, but there is a vacancy to be filled before next month’s start of the LIV schedule after Kieran Vincent’s relegation.
McKibbin is playing in that DP World Tour-organised Team Cup this week and is also entered for next week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic, where McIlroy is the defending champion.
Having turned professional as a teenager, McKibbin’s trajectory in the professional game has been a seamlessly upwards one: he won the Porsche European Open in his rookie season in 2023 and last year finished 18th on the Race to Dubai rankings and 10th of those players not already exempt on to the PGA Tour, which earned him a full card stateside.
After being greeted by McIlroy and Shane Lowry in Dubai upon winning that prized ticket on to the PGA Tour, McKibbin remarked: “It would be pretty amazing to get over there and play some golf ... I seem to play [well] on the harder courses and I think that suits my game a little more. It’ll be exciting to get over there and see how it goes.”
If McKibbin were to jump ship to LIV, where former US Open champion Graeme McDowell is currently the only Irish player competing, it would mean forfeiting his PGA Tour card.
McKibbin’s graph in the world rankings has been impressive year-on-year. He finished 2023 ranked 165th in the official rankings and has now moved to a current ranking of 110th.
As it stands, LIV players don’t earn world ranking points in LIV events but do when competing in any of the four Majors (the Masters, US Open, US PGA and The Open).
McKibbin’s 18th place finish on the DP World Tour order of merit last season earned him a place in the field (with the top 20 gaining exemptions) for the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush in July but, as of now, he is not exempt into any of the other Majors.
A move by McKibbin to LIV would be a huge shock given how he has negotiated his impressive, if fledgling, career on tour so far, with steps from the Challenge Tour to the DP World Tour and on to juggling that European circuit with the PGA Tour stateside.
Jumping ship to LIV – as part of Rahm’s team – would certainly be a hugely profitable change of direction for McKibbin if also very much a career-changer. As of now, it is speculation with no official confirmation (ahead of LIV’s season kicking off in Riyadh in February) yet. But, as we know, there is no smoke without fire. Rahm, it would seem, is chasing his man.
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