“So proud of him” – Tom McKibbin praised by Rory McIlroy before taking huge world rankings leap

Patrick McCarry

“Pretty amazing.”

Tom McKibbin was ear-marked as one to watch from the age of 10, up at Holywood Golf Club. At the age of 20, last Sunday, he repaid a large chunk of that belief by winning his first major professional golf tournament.

The Belfast native shot a closing round of 70 to win the European Open, in Hamburg, to clinch his first DP World Tour title. He held off some seasoned stars and produced a clutch second shot into the par-five 18th hole to eventually give himself a handy birdie putt that put an exclamation point on his triumph.

“I guess I proved today that I am good enough to win,” McKibbin reflected after his round. “I always thought I was but to prove it today was special. I’ve learned a lot from failures – like missing cuts by a stroke or by ever so slightly – so to take all those learnings and put them into play today was really nice.”

As well as that elation of bagging a first pro victory at the age of just 20, and a winners’ cheque for €320,000, McKibbin will also be buzzing after a huge world rankings leap and a glowing endorsement from his golfing idol, Rory McIlroy.

Tom McKibbin and Rory McIlroy are both members of Holywood Golf Club. (Credit: Getty Images)

Rory McIlroy on Tom McKibbin

There had been high hopes that Holywood Golf Club would be having duel celebrations, on Sunday, as leaders in the final round of The Memorial Tournament got underway not long after Tom McKibbin raised the European Open trophy.

McIlroy started the day on -6 and in the lead at Muirfield Village, in Ohio. He suffered a batch of poor bogeys in the middle of his round, though, carded a +3 final round and finished in a tie for seventh. The four-time major winner put personal disappointment aside, though, and paid tribute to McKibbin. He told reporters:

“I know Tom very well. I watched every shot this morning. I was really happy for him. For 20 years old he showed so much composure.

“We’ve all known from back home the potential that he has, but I think to break through and win for the first time at 20 years old is, there’s a bright future ahead of him. And, yeah, just so happy and so proud of him, really. I’ve known Tom since he was 10 years old. And to see his progression and see where he is today and get that first win in Europe was really cool to see.”

Something that will massively help McKibbin in the coming months, and increase his chances of invites to some big events, is the world rankings boost he received from winning his first professional event. He has climbed to a new high of 162, up 173 spots (from 335th) last week.

Scottie Scheffler remains world number one, ahead of Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy while Memorial winner, Viktor Hovland has climbed to fifth in the world. Shane Lowry remains 26th in the world while Seamus Power drops from 43rd to 45th.

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