Tom McKibbin says the opportunity to play regularly on the PGA Tour would “mean a lot” as he prepares to take another step towards fulfilling that goal when he tees up at the Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews this week.
The 21-year-old from Northern Ireland is on the verge of securing a PGA Tour card as one of the top 10 eligible finishers on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai.
Coming off the back of a top-10 finish at the recent PGA Championship at Wentworth, the Holywood golfer will play five further tournaments this season, beginning at the famous Scottish course over the coming days.
He will complete his campaign by taking in the DP World Tour Championship, the traditional season finale, in mid-November.
“It would mean a lot, it’s a tour I’ve watched growing up on television and it’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to play. To get a card out there and play a schedule would be pretty nice,” McKibbin told BBC Sport NI.
“I’ve just got to go out there and trust my golf.”
‘A consistent year’
McKibbin secured his maiden DP World Tour title by winning the European Open in June 2023 and went close to clinching a second success when he lost a play-off to German Marcel Siem at the Italian Open this year after shooting a brilliant closing round of 65.
His other achievements during 2024 include a spell in the world’s top 100 for the first time and competing in the US Open and the Open Championship, making the cut at both tournaments.
“It’s been a very good year, a very solid year, a lot of top 10s, a lot of consistency,” he reflected.
“I’ve been happy with it so far, I just have to push on until the end of the year. Got to focus on these last five events, there are a lot of points at stake and you can move around a lot so I’ve got to keep concentrated and just try and finish the year as best as I can.”
McKibbin, the youngest Irish winner on the DP World Tour since Rory McIlroy, has earned over one million pounds in prize money already in 2024, but it is more silverware that he craves most.”Going into these last five events I’d love to get my hands on another trophy but it’s so competitive it’s hard to win anywhere,” he said.
