Tom McKibbin: NI player set for shock LIV Golf switch with Jon Rahm
2025-01-07
Category: sports

Northern Ireland's Tom McKibbin is set for a shock switch to join Jon Rahm's LIV Golf team in a lucrative multi-year deal.McKibbin claimed a PGA Tour card in November after finishing among the top 10 players without a card in the DP World Tour's Race to Dubai.However, the 22-year-old will forgo a debut season on the PGA Tour to take the final spot in Rahm's Legion XIII team.He will join two-time major winner Rahm, England's Tyrrell Hatton and the USA's Caleb Surratt in the four-player outfit. McKibbin would become the second player from Northern Ireland to make the switch to LIV Golf after 2010 US Open winner Graeme McDowell joined the Saudi Arabia-backed tour in 2022.The LIV Golf season begins in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia on 6 February.McKibbin is playing in the Team Cup event in Abu Dhabi this week and is scheduled to compete in the DP World Tour's Dubai Desert Classic next week. The Holywood golfer has also qualified for this year's Open Championship, which will be held at Royal Portrush. McKibbin turned professional in April 2021 and won his first DP World Tour event in June 2023 at the Porsche European Open in Germany. He also lost in a play-off at this year's Italian Open. 
Eye-catching swoop for LIV - analysis
McKibbin's impending move is the latest reminder of mega-rich LIV's gravitational pull, and while the Northern Irishman is not in the same bracket as some of the tour's biggest names, it is still an eye-catching swoop for the breakaway circuit. It is also a seismic development in his burgeoning career, especially given McKibbin worked hard to secure the last of the 10 PGA Tour cards on offer from the DP World Tour in November.And while he spoke of his "excitement" at embarking upon his first year in the United States alongside compatriot Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler among others, he seemingly has been lured by the prospect of going up against the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in the fourth LIV Golf season. Having qualified for the PGA Tour, McKibbin would have been targeting a Ryder Cup debut this year. Whether or not his LIV switch impacts that remains to be seen, but 2025 is suddenly looking entirely different. McKibbin is scheduled to speak to reporters on Wednesday before the start of the Ryder Cup-style Team Cup on Friday, so it will be interesting to hear from the man himself. 