Tom McKibbin finished the DP World Tour season with T10 and T11 finishes in Abu Dhabi and Dubai to earn his PGA Tour card.
The Northern Irishman from Holywood Golf Club described it as a “stressful” end to the season but thanks to his play will now embark on a year Stateside with dual DPWT-PGA Tour membership in the hopes of taking his career to the next level.
McKibbin, who turns 22 next month, will begin his 2025 in Abu Dhabi in the Team Cup, where he’ll hope to impress Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald knowing that his “massive goal” of making his debut for Team Europe is a realistic possibility if he continues his form.
“I think it would definitely be a massive goal for next year and I think to be a part of that team at the start of the year is pretty cool, and it’s definitely a great opportunity for me. And then I will have to go and play some really good golf for the rest of the year,” McKibbin said on his goal of making his Ryder Cup debut next year having made Justin Rose‘s GB&I side to face Francesco Molinari’s Continental Europe.
“Really excited to be a part of that next year, it was definitely something that I wanted to play in probably from about January, February time when I remembered it was on in a year’s time. So that was definitely something that was on my radar this year.
McKibbin is part of the 10-man GB&I team for January’s Team Cup
(Image credit: Callaway Golf)
“I think to be a part of a team like that next year should be a really cool way to start the year and mix in with those guys.”
The World No.105, who won the 2023 Porsche European Open, first watched the Ryder Cup in 2012 when Europe mounted their stunning final day comeback at Medinah. He admits that making the team has been a dream ever since.
“Yeah definitely, I think so from watching all those moments on TV throughout the years and seeing that bond that everyone has that plays it is pretty cool.”
If he were to make the Ryder Cup next year, one player he’d be joining on the team is fellow Holywood GC prodigy Rory McIlroy.
McKibbin is 14 years younger than McIlroy, and his first memory of watching golf on TV was his countryman’s 2011 US Open victory at Congressional. He says that McIlroy has been an inspiration to him and getting to know him over last decade has been “pretty cool”,…
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