Tom McKibbin was forced to settle for the consolation prize of a lie in on Tuesday after he qualified for his first ever Open Championship but was denied his second DP World Tour win by Marcel Siem in a playoff at the Italian Open.
McKibbin can forego his place at Final Qualifying on Tuesday after he shot a superb bogey-free final round 65 to leap up the leaderboard and finish in tie for first place alongside Siem, who was already exempt for The Open, after 72 holes.
Both players had makable birdie chances on the first extra hole but while McKibbin’s strayed to the right, Siem, who had held a 22-foot birdie putt to force a playoff just moments earlier, saw his putt lip in for his sixth DP World Tour title.
McKibbin had finished his final round nearly three hours before the final group but after posting the clubhouse target on ten-under he was two shots behind Siem and Rozner who stumbled to the finish line.
The Holywood man carded his birdies in braces, rolling in putts on the 4th, 5th, 11th, 12th. 15th and 16th to post a target.
With his Open spot secured, the 21-year-old could relax and watch the closing stretch.
Having played the front nine in 32, Siem began to struggle, dropping four shots between the 11th and 17th to fall one behind McKibbin while Rozner had fallen back to eight-under and was out of the running.
The German grinder, box office at the best and worst of times, launched into a celebration, launching his cap across the green and dropping the putter as his 22-foot birdie putt went in to force extra holes with McKibbin.
After such drama it was all over rather quickly.
“It was really tough, you saw the scoreboard, everybody was making bogeys and doubles and the pins were tucked in corners. It was really tough out there, all the hole locations were in the shade.
“Holing that putt on 18 was one of the coolest moments in golf for me. Doing it again in the playoff was fantastic.
Siem was only returning from an injury in order to play himself into form for the Open in Royal Troon next month.
“It’s amazing. Everything went so quick, the whole team was really good. My family push me so hard and believes in me so much. I love this sport, I love it so much and it’s so much fun to work hard for it and to get rewards like this. I love life and I love golf it can’t get any better at the moment.”
There is plenty to be cheerful about for McKibbin. He moves into 8th place on the Race to Dubai in what is a very significant move as far as his aspirations for earning a PGA Tour card next year go while he could also reach a career high world ranking.
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