Rónán MacNamara in Portrush
Tom McKibbin admitted he felt “pissed off” after some sloppy mistakes sabotaged what he felt could have been his best major performance to date as he missed the cut on home soil at the Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
McKibbin made the ideal start to his second round with an opening birdie to get him to within four of the early lead. But a double bogey on the 8th before bogeys on 11 and 14 left him needing something special to stick around for the weekend.
The 22-year-old picked up a birdie on the 15th but couldn’t find another and his major streak of three consecutive cuts made came to a disappointing end with a 73 for a three-over total, but he was overwhelmed by the support he received throughout the 36 holes.
“The crowd supporting me the whole way round was amazing,” he reflected. “The whole week was good, sort of positive. I thought I played all right, just a few sort of stupid mistakes that looking back, I wouldn’t really hit different. The shot was fine, just sort of missed in the wrong spot or got the club slightly wrong.
“Overall, I actually thought I played quite nicely, just a few silly mistakes.
“I think that’s what’s probably most annoying. I feel like I actually played — this is probably the best I’ve played out of them all. Just so many like stupid errors, just pins at the back of the green, hitting over the green. It’s just where there’s nothing really wrong with the shot. So I think that’s what’s a little bit frustrating.”
McKibbin will be back in action next weekend at LIV Golf UK at JCB Country Club where he can dust himself down and continue his good recent form as the season approaches a conclusion.
“There’s only three events left, so give those all I have for those. I’ll play a little bit of DP as well coming towards the end of the year as well. Gearing up for them.”
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