Tom McKibbin is hoping to find his scoring touch at LIV Golf Dallas this week as he gears up for the 153rd Open Championship in Royal Portrush.
McKibbin will be one of at least five home hopefuls teeing it up on the Dunluce Links next month as Rory McIlroy gets his grand slam homecoming and Shane Lowry returns as defending course champion while Pádraig Harrington and Darren Clarke – making his last Open appearance – complete the set.
The Holywood man started his maiden season on LIV Golf quite well with two top-7 finishes in his first three starts, but since then he has posted just one top-15 finish and ranks 28th in the season long standings.
“Yeah, it’s been a little bit up and down,” said the 22-year-old who has earned over $4million since joining the Saudi backed tour.
“I played pretty nice at the start of the year up until Miami and then sort of since then I haven’t really scored too well. I struggled a little bit getting off to a good start, and I’ve played a little bit nicer as the weeks went on.”
McKibbin has made all three of his major championship cuts so far in his young career and he would love to at the very least keep that going on home soil next month as he looks to find his groove again.
“The game feels quite nice and it feels like it’s been quite similar throughout the year. I just haven’t really scored as good the last couple of events.
“I’ve had a lot of fun this year. It’s been a whole different experience for me, something that I’ve enjoyed a lot. Really looking forward to these last six events of the year and seeing what can happen there.”
One of the favourites to lift the Claret Jug will be McKibbin’s Legion XIII teammate Jon Rahm who will be hoping lightning can strike a third time on the island of Ireland.
A two-time Irish Open champion, one of which came just up the road from Portrush in Portstewart, the Spaniard has found his mojo in the majors again.
Finishes of 14th at the Masters, eighth in the PGA Championship and seventh in the US Open have Rahm trending in the right direction and he was also eleventh when Lowry won in 2019.
“I like Royal Portrush,” said Rahm. “Last Open there I did well.”
“I played a British Am there and had nothing but a good experience,” Rahm added.
Although he never did come back to defend his Irish Open crown after winning in Lahinch in 2019, Rahm has never hidden his love for golf in Ireland and he ranks Portrush as one of his favourites.
“It’s a bit of a unique links because you don’t usually have elevation changes in links golf, and it’s not that it’s massive, but that first hole you have anywhere between a wedge to a seven-iron with a massive upslope and massive crosswinds.
“That’s not something you usually see.
“The fifth hole is severely downhill, even the seventh going up is not something you usually see.
“And then 16, 17, 18, with having to go over cliffs and falloffs and elevation changes, it’s not something you usually get to practice in links golf.
“Usually it’s perfectly flat, and there’s other elements to worry about. So that’s what makes Portrush to me a little bit more special.
“It’s a fantastic golf course where, like every other major, you have to do everything well.
“I’ve been lucky enough to play in Ireland and Northern Ireland, so I’m hoping that can carry on over into a Major championship, as well.”
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