Whether Tom McKibbin will join LIV Golf or not is still uncertain. However, the 22-year-old has still left a mark on the PGA Tour in just 4 appearances. He may not be a record-breaking golfer yet like Nick Dunlap, but he still has shown a lot of promise. That is why Rory McIlroy has backed him to be a promising talent. So what has Tom McKibbin achieved in his short stint at the PGA Tour?

Out of his 4 participations, 2 of them were in majors at the Open Championship and the U.S. Open in 2024. McKibbin made the cut in both the vents, finishing T66 and T41 respectively. He failed to make the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open in 2024. However, during McKibbin’s participation in the same event in 2023, he finished at T35. That has been his record on the PGA Tour in 2023 & 2024.

So how did the man from Belfast make the headlines for his possible LIV Golf move? Let’s take a look at his journey before 2025.

Tom McKibbin’s journey to professional golf

Tom McKibbin had a keen interest in golf since a young age. According to his DP World Tour profile, he started practicing at the Holywood Golf Club, the same club that Rory McIlroy grew up playing at. McKibbin was only 10 years old when he met McIlroy. The two hit it off and have been friends ever since. It is believed that world no. 3 has always supported and guided the 22-year-old through his junior years. Speaking of juniors, the first big break McKibbin received was at the 2018 Major Champions Invitational. The event that was created by Sir Nick Faldo ended up being the young star’s 1st amateur victory.

Further, he earned a place in Team Ireland for the European Boys’ Team Championship. He represented his nation in the event in 2018 and 2019. A couple of years later, McKibbin was in the Road to Mallorca Rankings. He ended up finishing 10th on the leaderboard in 2021, earning his DP World Tour card the same year. That was the beginning of LIV Golf’s possible next talent’s journey as a professional golfer.

In 2020, the Northern Ireland national came close to capturing the second title of his career. He played in the 2020 Australian Amateur, coming incredibly close in the final round. However, after a tough battle against Jed Morgan, McKibbin lost 5&3 in the event. He turned pro in 2021 and hasn’t looked back since.

Tom McKibbin spend two years and about 26 events in the DP World Tour before his 1st win. In 2023, he won the Porsche European Open. McKibbin warded off the challenging field of Max Kieffer and Marcel Siem by 2 strokes to claim victory in the tournament. In his 6 years in Europe, the Belfast citizen has 1 win, 1 runner-up, and 10 other top-10 finishes. He has accumulated about $2.61 million through his efforts so far in his career.

This has been Tom McKibbin’s journey in professional golf so far. Is this what attracted the attention of LIV Golf officials? We will never know. But some reports suggest that he is set to move to the Saudi-Arabian backed circuit for a $5 million plus further annual guarantees deal.

And that’s enough about the career of the young pro, let’s take a peek at his social media handle for more information.

Tom McKibbin’s Instagram interactions

There is not much information available about Tom McKibbin’s personal life. About 11 years ago, he had a pet named Yogi. He seems to be good friends with the Instagram user @alex_dowds13 as the latter has been tagged by him a few times in his posts. There is a picture of him with the Junior Honda Classic back in January 2016. This suggests that he won the title during that time. He was a TaylorMade amateur golfer earlier in his career, but it seems that he has since switched to Callaway.

Apart from that, it seems that he loves showing off his swing on Instagram. Most of his 152 posts on the social media channel are of him driving the ball off the tee. However, his last upload is probably the one he is most proud of. He and his team of Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, & Co. won the Team Cup in January 2025. It seems that Tom McKibbin has achieved a lot of success in his short amateur and junior career. Maybe that is why he is in the headlines for getting attention from LIV Golf‘s Jon Rahm & Legion XIII.

What do you think of Tom McKibbin’s journey so far? Do you believe he is the next big star from Northern Ireland after Rory McIlroy? Share your views in the comments section.