Tom McKibbin is currently in pole position among the candidates to sign for Legion XIII, the team captained by Jon Rahm in LIV Golf. According to Ten Golf, he is the number one candidate on the table, although there is no official confirmation yet from the Barrika golfer’s team or the Saudi league itself. In principle, unless there is a turn of events, which should never be ruled out, his signing should be made official in the coming days. McKibbin would replace Kieran Vincent, who joined Legion XIII last year through the LIV Promotions and has been left out in 2025 after a poor year that left him at the bottom of the rankings. As it stands, Jon’s team would consist of the Spaniard as captain, alongside Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin, and Caleb Surratt.
There have been many rumours in recent months about players who could be in Rahm’s team’s orbit. The ones that were most strongly mentioned in the past were Nicolai Hojgaard, who was talked about a lot during the Estrella Damm Andalucía Masters, and Tony Finau, a rumour that the American golfer himself denied at the end of last year, shortly after confirming his last-minute absence from the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. Now, with Tom McKibbin, it seems to be definitive, although it still needs to be announced through official channels.
McKibbin is expected this week at the Team Cup, a DP World Tour tournament that will be held from Friday to Sunday at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club. As you know, it is a team championship in the style of the Ryder Cup that will pit Great Britain and Ireland, where McKibbin is, against Continental Europe. This week will be used as a testing ground by Luke Donald, the European Ryder captain, and his entire team to establish possible pairings for Bethpage and to see firsthand the performance of some players in this unique team and match play format.
McKibbin is one of the most promising golfers on the DP World Tour. He is 22 years old and was born in Holywood, the same place where Rory McIlroy is from. In fact, the six-time Race to Dubai winner has somehow acted as a mentor and advisor to McKibbin. Both will meet next week at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, provided a possible official announcement of his signing for Legion XIII does not change plans.
McKibbin is currently ranked 110th in the world rankings and has one professional victory, achieved in 2023 at the Porsche European Open. Although he did not achieve any wins last year on the European Circuit, he did accumulate enough results and points to earn one of the ten PGA Tour cards awarded through the Race to Dubai. Perhaps the fact of having the PGA Tour card for 2025, as well as his chances of playing in the Ryder Cup, is what is most surprising when judging the possible move to LIV Golf. In any case, the latter is not incompatible. As Rahm and Hatton have done, as long as there is no agreement between LIV, PGA Tour, and DP World Tour, McKibbin could appeal his possible future sanctions from the European Circuit and continue playing some European tournaments while awaiting a final ruling. Regarding the Majors, McKibbin is assured of his presence at the Open Championship, while he is within reach of the PGA Championship through the top 100 in the world. His move to LIV, which does not earn points for the world ranking, would make this goal more difficult.
McKibbin is a Callaway player, the brand that strongly backed Jon Rahm from the beginning and could become the main sponsor of the Legion XIII team this year. The talks are very advanced. It would be the first entry of a traditional golf brand into the Saudi league.
