McKibbin joins McIlroy as only second Irish teen to crack world’s top 300

Tom McKibbin shows off his DP World Tour card. Picture: Niall O’Shea

TOM MCKIBBIN now shares a record with his idol Rory McIlroy after becoming just the second Irish teenager to break into the world's top 300.

The Holywood talent (19) doesn't celebrate his 20th birthday until next Monday, but while comparisons with his mentor are clearly unfair, he's showing signs that he's got the talent to go far after starting his rookie season on the DP World Tour with three successive top-18 finishes.

McIlroy broke into the world's top 300 at 18 years and 23 weeks on 14 October 2007 when he finished tied fourth in the Open de Madrid to move from 308th to 245th in the world in just his 15th tour event and only his fourth start as a professional.

Now McKibbin, who has always tried to avoid comparisons with his superstar clubmate, has managed it in his 45th event and only his 39th start as a professional at 19 years and 51 weeks.

"It definitely does feel great to share this stat with Rory McIlroy," tweeted McKibbin in response to world rankings guru @VC606 after his tie for 13th in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek on Sunday saw him move up 21 places to 297th in the world.

Three-time Major winner Pádraig Harrington recently predicted the Holywood teenager would "win quick" on the DP World Tour and the Newtownabbey ace appears determined to prove him right after following his tie for 18th in the Joburg Open and for 15th in the South African Open with his third successive top-20 finish.

"I'm really happy with the top 20's and will try to improve on them again this week," said McKibbin, who will wrap up a successful 2022 alongside fellow rookies Gary Hurley (29) and John Murphy (24) in this week's AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.

"It's been nice to keep moving in the right direction each week, but I will definitely be ready for the break over Christmas."

McKibbin will be playing his 29th event of the year at Mont Choisy Le Golf, where Ryder Cup vice-captains Nicolas Colsaerts and Thomas Bjorn will also be in action.

He racked up eight top-10s from 23 starts on the Challenge Tour this season to finish 10th in the Road to Mallorca rankings and clinch one of 20 DP World Tour cards for the 2023 campaign.