Rory McIlroy hit with fresh blow as Jon Rahm’s | Golf News

Tom McKibbin has joined the ranks of LIV Golf, teaming up with Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII squad.

The Holywood Golf Club product and Rory McIlroy’s protege, McKibbin, turned down a PGA Tour card for the insurgent league. The 22-year-old secured his PGA Tour slot this 12 months by way of sturdy DP World Tour outings in 2024 however selected the LIV sequence as an alternative, able to launch in Saudi Arabia subsequent week.

Alongside Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, and Caleb Surratt, he rounds out the four-member Legion XIII. The grapevine was buzzing about McKibbin’s doable LIV leap, with McIlroy publicly counseling in opposition to bypassing the PGA Tour.

At the Dubai Desert Classic, McIlroy shared that he suggested McKibbin post-offer from LIV. McIlroy mentioned: “I really like Tom as a person, as a player. I think he’s got a tonne of potential. I said to him: ‘If I were in your shoes, I would make a different choice than the one you’re thinking of making.’

“Personally for me it might be a little disappointing if it have been to occur however I made it completely clear, ‘I’m not going to stand in your manner if you happen to need to make the choice you are feeling such as you need to make for your self.’ But on the similar time, I really feel like he is giving up a lot to probably not benefit that a lot.”

McKibbin clinched his solitary DP World Tour title at the Porsche European Open in 2023. His current position as No. 106 in the Official World Golf Ranking made him a dark horse for Europe’s Ryder Cup team. However, now that he has joined LIV Golf, it seems improbable he will make the team on automatic selection, being tied up with the rebel circuit.

McKibbin passed up discussing his choice to forsake a potential PGA Tour future during an event in Dubai, avoiding inquiries. Nonetheless, star golfer Rahm lauded him as a “unbelievable participant” and opined: “The prospects for him are limitless every time he decides to do.”

The upcoming LIV Golf season kicks off in Riyadh on Feb. 6, travels to Adelaide by Feb. 14, adopted by tournaments in Hong Kong and Singapore, then strikes to Trump National Doral come April 4.