Tom McKibbin has been one of the most consistent performers on the DP World Tour in 2024, but he still needed to navigate US Open Final Qualifying – dubbed ‘Golf’s Longest Day’ – to play his way into the field.
And the 21-year-old DP World Tour winner couldn’t be more excited to return to a venue with fond memories after his 2015 U.S. Kids World Championship victory at the Donald Ross layout.
“I couldn’t be more excited to get going for my Major Championship debut at the U.S. Open. It will be an unbelievable experience, something that I have always wanted,” he wrote in a blogpost for the DP World Tour.
“Now, being at Pinehurst, memories of my win at this venue in the U.S. Kids Golf World Championships in 2015 do come to me, just driving around the resort and the buildings. But it was nine years ago so I don’t remember too much but I’ve been to Pinehurst itself a good few times when I was younger.
“For me to play my first Major at a venue that I have been to before and really like, with those memories, is great. It’s pretty cool too for my family as well. My mum and dad have been here with me before when I was a kid. It is special for all of us. It feels like it was meant to be.”
Then 20 and fresh off the back of becoming a DP World Tour winner at the Porsche European Open, McKibbin came desperately close to qualifying for last year’s U.S. Open at L.A. Country Club, only to come up one shot shy of qualification and despite securing first alternate status, was left on the outside looking in when tournament play got underway.
This year, a late rally saw his fortunes take a turn for the better and he found himself on the right side of the mark.
“Last year in Final Qualifying at Walton Heath I had a very good first round and then stayed in neutral for the second round, didn’t get much out of it and ultimately came up one shot shy” he said. “This year I sort of played very solid throughout most of the day. I made a mistake and then had a big run at it near the end. I had to birdie the last to get in. I stood on the tee and said to myself that I was going to try and make this happen. I pushed myself one step further this year. It gives me that belief that things are never over until the last hole and to always keep trying. One shot can make all the difference.”
Pinehurst will offer a big change from the typical style of course that players face week to week on the DP World and PGA Tours, but partly due to his prior success at the venue, it’s a course McKibbin is very fond of and thinks that patience will be a big factor in determining the outcome. He’s also hoping to book a practice round with Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, both of whom played in the 2014 U.S. Open won by Martin Kaymer.
“The Pinehurst complex is just so nice and it’s a big golfing community,” he recalled. “The No. 2 course is phenomenal, very hard and I am looking forward to the challenge. It’s a very firm and fast golf course. There is no real rough, it’s a lot of wasteland and tiny bushes in the sand. The greens are pretty crazy, they are very fast, slopey and massive run offs so it can pitch in the green and run on 20-30 yards to one side. it’s very much about patience and playing very sensible golf around these types of courses.
“I flew out to North Carolina on Friday, just as much to help ease me suss out the area again ahead of event week beginning. I saw Rory McIlroy a couple of weeks ago so we might play a practice round together over the practice days, but I haven’t got anything stamped in with either him or Shane Lowry. But I hopefully will get in a game with those guys.
“I’m trying to treat it like any other week. Obviously that is easier said than done but ultimately I will try to do the same as I would usually and hopefully by the end of the week I will have learned a lot and seen where my game is at compared to the best players in the world and then assess after that.”
A missed cut at the Singapore Open is the only time he’s been outside the top-25 in 2024, and though he’s yet to get over the line for his second victory, is fast becoming one of the leading players on the DP World Tour and a steady fixture in featured groups.
“It’s been a very good first half of the season for me personally on the DP World Tour,” he said. “I have played a lot of solid and very consistent golf. It’s just been very nice to go out and play stress-free and enjoy my golf. I’ve been very happy with how I have played and how my game has shaped up so far this year. I have had a lot of top 20s, a good few top tens so I am looking forward to the rest of the year. It could be a good one.
“I think I have dealt with the extra attention around me since I won my first DP World Tour title last year at the European Open in Germany quite well. Just having the comfort of that win, knowing that this year I can play freely, not that I wouldn’t before, enables you to really go out and enjoy it. You’re not having to worry about having to keep your card. I have just taken advantage of my opportunities and played solid golf which has been enjoyable. Nothing, so far, has gone astray in my game so long may that continue.”
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