Tom McKibbin (-27) has achieved an undeniable victory at the Link Hong Kong Open, a tournament on the Asian Tour held from Thursday to Sunday at the Hong Kong Golf Club. The Northern Irishman, who started the week with a tremendous 10 under par on Thursday, closed it with another display, delivering a card of 63 strokes on Sunday, seven under par, to win by no less than seven strokes ahead in the standings.
Neither Peter Uihlein (-20), who started the final 18 holes just two shots behind the leader, nor M.J. Maguire (-19), who had managed to position himself just one shot behind after yesterday’s ‘moving day’, were rivals for an inspired McKibbin. Similarly, South African Louis Oosthuizen (-19), joined this Sunday by Japanese Tomoyo Ikemura (-19) sharing third place tied with M.J., all unable to keep up with the champion’s impressive birdie pace, who takes the big prize of the open.
Domination from start to finish 🙌 @tommckibbin8 #InternationalSeries | @LegionXIIIgc pic.twitter.com/GTdqtB5e5c
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) November 2, 2025
Jon Rahm‘s teammate in the Legion XIII swept through the course with eight birdies and a single error on the 18th, when victory was already assured. Until that last flag, the only two holes where he hadn’t reached the green in regulation, the par threes of the 9th and 12th, he managed to save par. A recital of accuracy from the tee, with only two fairways missed, precision with the irons, and finesse with the putter, especially on his back nine where he scored five birdies from the 10th to the 16th, achieving his second victory on one of the major tours, following the Porsche European Open of the DP World Tour he won in June 2003.
A title that not only includes the trophy and prize money but goes beyond because, as happened last month at the Open de España, this event awarded a spot in the Masters and the Open Championship next year. So the young McKibbin, 22 years old, will be competing for the first time in his career at Augusta National and for the third time in the British Open, where he finished tied for 66th in his debut in 2024, and where he missed the cut this year.
Tom McKibbin is putting on a show 🙌
He leads by 4 and is 6 holes away from claiming the title 🏆#InternationalSeries | @LegionXIIIgc pic.twitter.com/Rfb1uLej99
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) November 2, 2025
A double passport to two of the Majors of 2026 that the Spaniards Josele Ballester (-15), hampered by a bad Friday, and David Puig (-15), who lacked accuracy in the tournament’s first round, could not aspire to. Both closed the week with cards of 66 and 67 strokes, respectively, climbing to the 14th place tied, just a step away from the top 10. Eugenio López-Chacarra (-10) was tied for 41st while the defending champion, Patrick Reed (-12), had to settle this time for a tied 31st place, always far from the fight.
Objective achieved therefore for LIV Golf, which had deployed a long list of players this week in the tournament, taking advantage of their circuit’s off-season with no events until February, with the intention of having one more representative in the Masters and the Open Championship. While the Saudi tour events continue not to award world ranking points, they will have to keep seizing their opportunities in these types of events to be present at the major calendar events. This time it paid off with McKibbin in Hong Kong.
