Early life and amateur career
McKibbin was born on 19 December 2002 in Belfast. [1] He grew up in Newtownabbey, [3] and was an only child. [4] His mother Sara was a bank manager, and his father Robin was an intellectual property rights manager. [5] Neither of McKibbin's parents had a background in golf. He originally played football and was introduced to golf by a teammate's father, who took him to a driving range at age seven. [4] He displayed natural ability and weeks later he began to receive instruction from coach Johnny Foster, [6] who also coached Gareth Maybin. [7] McKibbin grew up playing golf at Greenisland Golf Club, Greenacres Golf Club and Holywood Golf Club, the same home club as Rory McIlroy. [8]
In 2015, McKibbin won the U12 World Junior Championship held in Pinehurst, North Carolina. [9] At age 13, he made his debut in a professional tournament at the 2016 Northern Ireland Open on the Challenge Tour, after receiving an invite from the management company owned by Niall Horan. He shot rounds of 80 and 76 to miss the cut. [10]
McKibbin won the Peter McEvoy Trophy in April 2019. He chipped in for birdie to prevail in a three-way playoff for the title. [11] The following week, McKibbin won the Junior Invitational. He shot 64-75-71 to win by one stroke over Maxwell Moldovan. [12] [13]
In January 2020, McKibbin made it to the final of the Australian Amateur at Royal Queensland. He was defeated 5 and 3 by Jediah Morgan. [14]
McKibbin graduated from the Belfast Royal Academy. [15] He verbally committed to play collegiate golf for the University of Florida, but the COVID-19 pandemic derailed this plan. He subsequently decided to forgo university and turn professional. [16] [17] His timeline for turning professional was accelerated after he was not selected for the 2021 Walker Cup. [18] [19]
Professional career
McKibbin turned professional in April 2021 at the age of 18. [20] He made his professional debut at the Tenerife Open on the European Tour, where he shot 70-70 and missed the cut. [21]
McKibbin won his first professional event in January 2022 on the Minor League Golf Tour in Florida. [22] He spent most of 2022 playing on the Challenge Tour. He was in contention to win at the Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open in February. A final-round 73 saw him miss out and finish tied-for-third. [23] He also finished solo second at the Irish Challenge at the K Club in July. [24] In November, at the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final, McKibbin shot a final-round 66 to finish tied-sixth and lift him to 10th place in the Challenge Tour Rankings, ultimately gaining a card for the 2023 European Tour season. [25]
In February 2023, McKibbin held the 36-hole lead at the Singapore Classic on the European Tour. [26] In June, McKibbin claimed his first win on the European Tour at the Porsche European Open in Germany. He shot a final-round 70 to win by two shots ahead of Julien Guerrier, Maximilian Kieffer and Marcel Siem. [27]
In June 2024, McKibbin shot a final-round 65 to tie the lead at the Italian Open with Marcel Siem. He was defeated on the first extra hole. [28] McKibbin finished the 2024 European Tour season 18th place on the Race to Dubai, which was good enough to earn the last of the 10 available PGA Tour cards for 2025. [29]
In January 2025, McKibbin joined LIV Golf for the 2025 season for a reported £4 million. [30] He was signed onto Legion XIII, joining Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Caleb Surratt, also becoming the second Northern Irish player to play on LIV Golf alongside Graeme McDowell. [31]
In November 2025, McKibbin won the Link Hong Kong Open on the Asian Tour. He shot a tournament-record score of 27-under 253 to finish seven strokes ahead of runner-up Peter Uihlein. With the win, McKibbin earned exemptions in the 2026 Masters Tournament and 2026 Open Championship. [32]
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