SINGAPORE – Hailed as the next Rory McIlroy, Tom McKibbin’s career is still in its infancy but he produced a performance his golfing idol and fellow Northern Irishman would have been proud of.
McKibbin, who turned professional in April 2021, fired a bogey-free eight-under 64 in the opening round of the Singapore Classic on Thursday. He leads by one stroke over Matthieu Pavon, Sami Valimaki, Joakim Lagergren and Simon Forsstrom at the US$2 million (S$2.65 million) event.
Despite recording four consecutive top-20 finishes on the DP World Tour in 2022, McKibbin has had a rough start in 2023, with two missed cuts in his last three tournaments.
He said: “I played quite nicely out there today and didn’t have too many mistakes. I’ve been playing quite nicely sort of last few weeks and nothing has really been going my way. So it’s nice to be patient and everything sort of fell into place today.”
He cracked the top-300 in the world rankings a week before his 20th birthday last December, becoming only the second teenager from Northern Ireland after world No. 1 McIlroy to achieve the feat. Two weeks ago, the duo played a practice round together at the Dubai Desert Classic.
Growing up and playing at the same Holywood golf club where McIlroy calls his home course, McKibbin was flattered at the comparisons with the world No. 1.
He said: “Rory’s been great. He’s helped me out a lot. Anything I would like to ask him, I sort of feel like I can. But yeah, it’s just been great to sort of been able to watch him and see how good he really is.”
He was not the only youngster who impressed. Ding Wenyi, 18, and one of only three amateurs in a field of 132 players, carded a 66.
The first Chinese to win the prestigious United States Junior Amateur Championships in 2022 said: “I was nervous off the tee. But getting my first birdie on hole one helped me settle in. My putting was great and my driving definitely improved from last week.”
Further back, Europe’s Ryder Cup winning captain Thomas Bjorn and world No. 30 Ryan Fox, the highest-ranked player in the field, shot 71 and 72 respectively. Singapore amateur Ryan Ang, the sole local competing, was three over after 13 holes but recovered for a 72.
Just ahead of the duo was Englishman James Morrison (70), who nailed the first hole-in-one of the tournament in style. The 38-year-old, who briefly held a share of the lead at five-under through seven holes, hit a pitching wedge at the fourth hole –a 142-yard par three – which took a bounce before it hit the cup.
It was his third competitive ace in 11 years. He said: “It was a perfect number for a full wedge. I hit it thin, took my hand off the club thinking it was short, one bounce and it went straight in. I was in shock more than anything. Couple of high fives and that’s it.”
His previous aces came at the 2012 Irish Open, where he won a BMW 6-series Gran Coupe, and at the 2016 BMW PGA Championship, where he won a BMW i8. This time, his prize was more modest – a bottle of champagne.
Morrison, whose roller-coaster round included six birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey, added: “It was topsy-turvy all day. I went from Ben Hogan to terrible. I forgot I had a hole-in-one till I had two holes to go. Someone reminded me and I went ‘Oh yeah, I had a hole-in-one!’ So maybe it wasn’t such a bad day after all.”
