Tom McKibbin’s first start on the Asian Tour will long be remembered after he won the $2 million Link Hong Kong Open at the Hong Kong Golf Club.
The Northern Irishman shot a final round of 7-under 63 to seal a stunning victory in the prestigious tournament, taking his four-round total to 27-under 253.
American Peter Uihlein is his closest challenger. Uihlein finished with a 68, seven spots behind, while Japan’s Tomoyo Ikemura (65), South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen (67) and America’s MJ Maguire (70) were tied for third, one shot behind in the seventh of nine events in the International Series, a LIV Golf-backed event on the Asian Tour calendar.
McKibbin’s performance broke the lowest score in the 72 holes of the event and tied the largest score difference in the event. It also earned him a seat in next year’s Open and Masters.
“Yeah, it’s obviously great,” the 22-year-old said after his second career victory.
“I’ve played some of the best golf I’ve probably ever played. So, yeah, it’s pretty special to play golf like this here and score like this.”
The LIV golf star, who plays for Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII, started the day one shot ahead of Maguire and after holding off the chasing pack on the front nine to finish at 3 under with birdies of 1, 3 and 8, he pulled away in the second half with birdies of 10, 11, 13, 14 and 16.
The final bogey was just his third of the week.
He added: “It means a lot. I mean, this tournament has such a rich history and, you know, the great players that have won it, to have the scoring record is very special and it will definitely stay with me forever.”
The previous lowest total of 72, 22 under, was held by Jose María Olazabal (2002), Ian Poulter (2010) and Patrick Reed (2024), while Bernhard Lange and Bill Blaske won by seven strokes in 1991 and 1984, respectively.
The young Northern Irishman’s victory comes just in time as this year marks the first time Augusta National Golf Club and the R&A invite the winner to their major championship.
This will be his first Masters appearance and his third Open appearance.
“It’s great to be able to go back and play my third Open, which is going to be very, very cool. And to drive down Magnolia Lane for the first time ever, it’s going to be even more special. You know, I think a historic tournament like this deserves these seats and yeah, it’s going to be awesome to take advantage of these opportunities.”
