McKibbin pleased to let his golf do the talking

For the second successive week, Tom McKibbin blocked out the noise surrounding his potential move to LIV Golf with another impressive performance at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

McKibbin followed up a strong performance at the Team Cup last week as he claimed a share of sixth place at Emirates Golf Club with a final round of 69 for an eleven-under total.

“It was a very good week, first strokeplay event of the year on a very difficult golf course and to play this well I am very happy,” said McKibbin who is heavily linked with a €8 million switch to LIV Golf but will have to settle for just north of €284,000 for his efforts in Dubai.

The 22-year-old put together a strong finish in tricky conditions late on Saturday and continued from where he left off with birdies on the 2nd and 3rd to get his final round off the ground quickly.

Bogeys on the 5th and 7th stalled him briefly but another back nine charge kicked into life with three birdies in five holes and he recovered from a bogey on 15 with a birdie on 17.

He consolidated his place inside the top-6 with a gutsy par on the 18th having seen his tee shot trickle into the water.

“Yesterday was very hard and the start of the round today was very breezy and the greens were getting firmer and firmer throughout the day.

“It was good, it’s always a hard first week especially with the course being this difficult but it’s a good score for the week and I’m very happy.”

The Holywood man averaged 318 yards off the tee in the final round which put him 4th in the field for driving distance and he credited some hard work in the offseason for his extra punch with the big stick.

“I drove the ball really well this week I’m hitting it a lot further and I was very good out of the rough. I struggled here in the past out of this long rough but I was a lot better at it.”

McKibbin is widely expected to join Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII side on the Saudi backed LIV Golf League next month where he could be teammates with Hero Dubai Desert Classic winner Tyrrell Hatton.

Hatton held off Daniel Hillier to win for the 8th time on the DP World Tour and clinch his fifth Rolex Series title.

“He seems to do well in these Rolex events I don’t know how many he’s won now but he loves these tough venues,” laughed McKibbin.