Golf struggles with the Order of Merit concept. In this week’s FedEx Cup Tour Championship it doesn’t matter a jot whether you are 1st to 30th in the rankings, anyone can win the FedEx Cup this week.
In LIV Golf, Joaquin Niemann won five events in thirteen starts but it was Jon Rahm who despite being winless, claimed the season-long individual title. The Spaniard finished inside the top-11 in all of his events.
The Team Championship will be decided on a matchplay basis but Legion XIII are still the favourites to wrap up the season long race and win their fifth team title.
It will mark the end of LIV Golf’s fourth season and one where they invested in youth as they sent out the message that they are here for the long haul.
One of the hotshot young signings was Tom McKibbin who took his own path despite the wishes of his fellow Holywood clubman Rory McIlroy and joined the Saudi backed tour.
Although the 22-year-old didn’t taste individual success he was a key part of Legion XIII’s dominance on the tour this year and was a model of consistency on his own.
McKibbin registered five top-11 finishes including a season best of fourth in Valderrama’s LIV Andalucía which helped him to 20th in the overall rankings, the highest of any of his fellow rookies.
In fact, McKibbin finished above his Legion teammates Tyrrell Hatton and Caleb Surratt.
Not bad in your rookie year as LIV’s marquee signing.
McKibbin will return to the DP World Tour next month looking to climb back towards the top-100 in the Official World Golf Ranking having fallen below the top-150, starting at the Amgen Irish Open.
After getting a taste of winning as part of a team, solo success is on his radar as he looks to end a winless drought spanning back to the 2023 Porsche European Open sooner rather than later.
“I’m looking forward to going back to Europe and playing in a few events and giving it my all and trying to get another win. It’s been over two years since I won in Germany and I would like to get that feeling again.”
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