Only the official confirmation was missing, and it finally arrived. Tom McKibbin, as reported by Ten Golf, joins the Legion XIII team of LIV Golf. Jon Rahm, the captain, has been responsible for announcing the arrival of the Northern Irishman. The opinion of Rory McIlroy was not enough to stop the departure of his ‘protégé’. The Saudi league, at last, ten days before the season starts, is now complete. All teams have their four players.
Regarding the Spaniards, Jon Rahm will share a squad with Tyrrell Hatton, Caleb Surratt, and Tom McKibbin, who replaces Kieran Vincent. Meanwhile, Sergio García has Abraham Ancer, David Puig, and Luis Masaveu. We could have had another Spaniard, but Ángel Ayora decided to reject the offer from Martin Kaymer’s team. Besides McKibbin, the LIV Golf signings in 2025 are Frederik Kjettrup, Masaveu, Ben Campbell, and Yubin Yang. Clearly, the PIF league has taken a noticeable step back in terms of signings compared to 2023 and 2024.
The other novelty of LIV Golf in 2025 is Max Lee, a golfer from Taiwan who earned his card through the LIV Promotions. Despite winning the school, he does not have a team. He will compete as a free agent, just like Anthony Kim. It does not seem the best way to give importance and weight to their school, which is otherwise very demanding from a competitive standpoint.
It’s official. Welcome to Legion XIII, @tommckibbin8!#LegionXIII #LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/mqjbibOCcZ
— Legion XIII (@LegionXIIIgc) January 29, 2025
McKibbin’s signing for Legion XIII was reported by Ten Golf shortly before the Team Cup, three weeks ago. In fact, the golfer spoke about the matter that week and confirmed the information with his silence, as did Jon Rahm or Rory McIlroy during the Hero Dubai Desert Classic week. It has not been an easy decision for McKibbin. In fact, Rory admitted in Dubai two weeks ago that his advice was not to go to LIV, as he did not believe it was the best way to grow in his career, now that he has the opportunity to fight for the Majors or even the Ryder Cup. Playing in LIV complicates those goals. “From my point of view, it jeopardises very important goals for an economic issue, when there is a lot of money in all circuits,” he explained.
The announcement of the signing was delayed to spare the British golfer from uncomfortable questions in the tournaments he planned to play at the beginning of the year. In this regard, according to Ten Golf, he intended to play some PGA Tour events in January and declined the possibility, despite obtaining the card last year through the Race to Dubai, to avoid uncomfortable situations in the United States. In Europe, he played the Team Cup, Dubai, and Ras al Khaimah. He was scheduled to play in Bahrain but withdrew to finally announce his move to LIV Golf.
McKibbin moves to LIV Golf at just 22 years old with a victory on the DP World Tour, the Porsche European Open in 2023.
