Tom McKibbin cemented his place at next year’s Masters and Open Championship thanks to a commanding seven-shot victory at the Hong Kong Open on the Asian Tour.
The 22-year-old Northern Irishman, who plays on the LIV Golf tour, entered the final round at the Hong Kong Golf Club with a narrow one-shot lead but extended his cushion in the early stages with two birdies in the opening three holes. He held his two-shot advantage by the turn but then sprinting away from the rest of the pack on the back nine sinking five birdies in seven holes. His one and only bogey of the round came at the last as he carded a sublime 7-under 63 to end the event on 27 under, sealing an impressive wire-to-wire victory.
As a result of the event being one of the new qualifying events for two of the majors, McKibbin booked himself a spot at the 2026 Masters and Open Championship. He will be making his debut appearance at the Masters and his third at the Open Championship.
Speaking to R&A TV following the event, McKibbin said: “It was obviously amazing, I played some of the best golf I’ve probably ever played.
“It was a little strange building that big lead coming in. It was a little bit of a weird feeling. I just tried to take advantage of those holes that were birdie chances, par-5s and wedge opportunities. It was nice to take advantage of those and stretch out the lead coming in.”
It is only his second professional win of his career adding to his win at the 2023 European Open in Germany but a record-breaking one as he recorded the lowest winning total in the event’s history and tied the the biggest margin of victory.
“For a tournament with so much history behind it and great players who have won this tournament, to have the scoring record is pretty special and it’s something that will live with me forever,” he added.
“I dreamt of doing this since I was a young kid, and they come true if you train hard enough.”
America’s Peter Uihlein finished as runner-up on 20 under while there was a three-way tie for third between Japan’s Tomoyo Ikemura, South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen, and America’s M.J. Maguire.