LIV Golf has yet to announce a marquee new signing a month out from its 2025 season opener, but the league is set to make a splash with the addition of a Rory McIlroy protege.
Fellow Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin is set to join Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII team on a multi-year deal, according to multiple reports. The move comes just weeks after the 22-year-old earned his PGA Tour card as one of the top 10 players without a card on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai.
McKibbin will replace relegated Kieran Vincent in joining Rahm’s team along with England’s Tyrrell Hatton and America’s Caleb Surratt.
A friend of McIlroy’s with both having played out of Holywood Golf Club, McKibbin is currently 110th in the Official World Golf Ranking. His most recent start was a T24 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship to close out 2024, but McKibbin did finish T10 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and T11 at the DP World Tour Championship.
He declined to comment on his reported signing with LIV Golf while at this week’s Team Cup event in Abu Dhabi, where McKibbin is playing for Great Britain and Ireland captain Justin Rose and European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald. The team also includes Hatton and European Ryder Cup star Tommy Fleetwood.
“I’m not gonna make any comments this week out of respect for Justin and Luke and this tournament,” McKibbin told Golf Digest on Wednesday. “It’s a team event, so I’m just trying to give my best to the team and see how many points I can get.”
LIV Golf’s first of 14 events for the breakaway league’s fourth season is scheduled to begin Feb. 6 in Saudi Arabia.
McKibbin turned professional in 2021 and won the Porsche European Open in 2023. His best finish last year was a runner-up in the Italian Open, and McKibbin already has qualified for this year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush. He also is scheduled to play in next week’s Dubai Desert Classic.
McKibbin will become the second player from Northern Ireland to sign with LIV, joining former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell.
–Field Level Media
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