Tom McKibben grabs chance to impress Ryder Cup captain with both hands
Action got underway at Doonbeg on Thursday morning. Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Pádraig Harrington knows his onions. One of the most experienced and successful players still teeing it up, and a man who digs several layers deeper than most when it comes to all things golf, he hadn’t thought much about how his playing partners were chosen this week.
Coincidence, the 2027 Ryder Cup vice-captain suggested when asked about the presence of the highly-rated young Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra in his three-ball with Tyrrell Hatton. Nothing to do with next year’s gig in Adara Manor, then?
Luke Donald was more up front pre-tournament when speaking of the “privileges” he can depend on as Team Europe supremo, among them the opportunity to choose who he spends his 18 holes with on the odd Thursday and Friday.
Donald opted to tag along with England’s Alex Fitzpatrick and Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin for the opening two rounds of this Amgen Irish Open. It was a chance for the Newtownabbey man to sow a seed or two.
A timely one too.
Donald has invited 16 players to a get-together at Adare Manor this Monday. Fitzpatrick and Chacarra are among them. McKibbin isn’t believed to be on the list, even with Donald talking up his improving stats and a tied-sixth finish at the British Masters last month.
McKibbin could have been forgiven for having one eye off the ball with LIV Golf’s decision to file for bankruptcy going public just before this event, the small print telling us that the 23-year old is owed a cool €837,000 by the organisation.
Then again, he’d have known that was coming and there was an air of calm about him when he spoke on Wednesday after going around the course at Trump International Golf Links and Hotel in what Tony Leen of this parish described as an effortless five-under par 65.
Chacarra had a day that was both uninteresting and curious: no birdies, no bogeys, 17 pars and a double bogey on the par-3 9th. Fitzpatrick couldn’t make any hay on the easier front nine but got up to two-under and finished with a very acceptable 69.
But it was McKibbin who caught the eye of the three. He was three-under within four holes and gained another shot on the 10th, the last hole playing more or less in the ‘right’ direction before the real turn for home and into the teeth of the winds.
A bogey on 11 wasn’t a good start on that road but he dug in with six straight pars before giving back one more stroke to card a two-under 68 after no less than six hours and three minutes on the course and he was more than contented with that.
“I was very happy. I knew there was chances on the first couple holes, but obviously it's still very windy, and there's a lot to take into some of those shots. So it was very nice to get off to a nice start.
“Then it’s [about] holding on a little bit. From 11 in, I mean, every hole is just so hard, and I know I'm two-over for those holes, but definitely you could easily be four or five-over. So yeah, very happy to get in at two-under.” How hard was it? He hit a five-iron about 280 yards on the 4th and then used the same club to make just 150 on the next. Digging in like that can’t but impress the right people and he made some big par saves on the green with it.
“I've started putting much better, much more consistent, having more better days on the greens, pulling one or two more putts from mid-range, which has definitely helped the rounds a little bit. I feel like once that kicks in, the confidence goes up a little bit.”
Tomorrow is another day, another opportunity to impress.
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