Tom McKibbin surprised the golf public with his debut at LIV Golf, with seven under 65. The Northern Irishman currently shares third place, while the leader in Riyadh this time is Adrian Meronk.
Making your debut at one of the Tours is not easy; The pressure is huge, eyes are on you, and it is certain that such moments carry a touch of nervousness. McKibbin pointed out that he enjoyed this experience after the end of the first round, stressing that LIV is a completely different experience than what he has had so far.
“I just really enjoyed it,” said McKibbin, as quoted by Irish Independent.
“It was something different, under the lights and the music, and it was a pretty awesome first day.”
Tom McKibbin on the night timing
The 22-year-old golfer revealed that many aspects before the start of the tournament as well as during the tournament are completely different from what he is used to. The Northern Irishman admits that he was anxious at times, especially because of the night timing.
However, tournaments like this are an opportunity to gain experience and get used to new conditions. Tom did not forget to mention the music either, stressing that the music was super cool.
“Yeah, it was obviously very different, the warm-up. I’ve never experienced that before. It was definitely a different experience.
I wouldn’t really say I was too nervous. I was probably more anxious and not sure about how it was going to go, especially with playing at night, something that none of us have ever really experienced.
But I think being able to get that out of the way today and knowing what’s coming for the next couple of days is good. As I said, it was something very different but very pleased that it didn’t affect me too much.”- he concluded.
The 22-year-old revealed that he had no talks with any team except Rahm’s, believing that belonging to his team could be a guarantee of success at LIV Golf. The Spanish golfer is a great mentor to the Northern Irishman, being a major link in his development, although some expected it could be Rory McIlroy.
Tennis World USA