Tom McKibbin began his opening round of the DP World Tour Championship one spot outside the PGA Tour card places on the Race to Dubai and that’s where he remains after a solid one-under 71 in Dubai.
It leaves McKibbin four shots off the pace set by his club mate Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton on the leaderboard as he looks to leapfrog Jordan Smith in the race for one of the ten available PGA Tour cards available on Sunday.
The 21-year-old has been inside the top-10 for the PGA Tour cards for much of the season but despite a top-10 in Abu Dhabi last week he dropped out courtesy of Paul Waring’s win meaning he knows he must finish this week as high as possible to climb back in to punch his ticket Stateside. A challenge he is relishes.
“I think with this being such big event with so many points at stake I know I have to play well to try and sneak one of those spots. I know someone further down the rankings will have a good week and overtake me if I don’t play well,” McKibbin told Denis Kirwan of Meridian Media.
“That’s quite a nice thing knowing I have to go out and play well to earn it and not be in a position to protect it and I will give it my best the next few days.”
McKibbin is making just his second appearance at the DP World Tour Championship in just his second year on tour and he was pleased with his opening round as he battled through some heavier than usual rough and was rewarded with a birdie on the last.
“Pretty good effort today nice to get that on the last to shoot in red numbers on a golf course that is certainly playing much harder than last time. Happy to get in under par.
“The practice round the rough was absolutely brutal, the ball just sunk right to the bottom of it and it’s so thick it’s so hard to hit the greens you just have to advance it close. That’s made it much more difficult.”
The Holywood man started well with a brace of opening birdies but a sloppy double bogey on the par-3 4th was his only real blot on an otherwise steady performance.
“I hit a pretty poor tee shot in there. I tried to flop it over the bunker and made sure I committed to it but I gave it slightly too much and over shot the green slightly. If I could have that hole back I would try and give it a better go.”
Despite not adding to last season’s victory in Germany, McKibbin believes he has improved as a player, racking up nine top-10s this term.
“It’s been a very consistent and solid year. Did a lot of the right things and no matter what happens over the next three days it’s been a very consistent year and a very good year. Much better than last year and I had a win last year. My game is getting better every year.
“Having some of those good results adds to the confidence and hopefully I can continue that on next year.”