Tom McKibbin earned just over one million dollars on his LIV Golf debut as his Legion XIII team romped to the team title at Riyadh Golf Club.
Adrian Meronk took the individual title, winning by two shots from McKibbin’s Legion XIII teammate Jon Rahm, Sebastian Munoz and Lucas Herbert.
McKibbin pocketed $749,000 for claiming the team title and he added that to just over $412,000 after a level-par final round saw him finish in a share of 15th place on the individual leaderboard.
The Holywood man finished on ten-under, seven shots shy of Meronk. McKibbin double-bogeyed his final hole which ultimately cost him an extra $85,000.
Legion XIII, made up of Rahm, McKibbin, Tyrrell Hatton and Caleb Surratt finished a cumulative 50-udner-par, eleven shots clear of Ripper GC and the Rangegoats.
Legion XIII skipper Rahm was delighted for his side to win on their first time of asking while he singled out the “world class” McKibbin for an impressive debut appearance.
“I’ve always said the mission is clear; we compete to win,” said the Spaniard.
” I think we’re all that way individually, and as a team it shows, and with the addition of Tom, he’s a world-class player, it’s just people haven’t seen it yet. It’s really made us stronger, and with the new format, like I’ve been saying all week, I think it’s to our benefit.
Rahm hopes that McKibbin will take a lot of confidence from his performance this week after his move to LIV Golf was met with a lot of noise after he snubbed his PGA Tour card.
“I think it’s really nice for Tom. I guess all of us on the team have won our first LIV start as a team now, with Caleb, Tyrrell and I doing it last year. So I think it’s nice, and it should give him a lot of confidence to come in, first week, play that well, and get the team win. That way that’s out of the way, you’ve already accomplished it, and now all you can do is get better.”
Graeme McDowell finished in a share of 21st place on eight-under-par after a final round of four-under.
Leave a comment