McKibbin and Murphy upbeat in card quest at Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final
Tom McKibbin during practice at Club de Golf Alcanada this week. Picture: Getty Images
Holywood's Tom McKibbin is brimming with confidence as he bids to become the youngest Road to Mallorca number one in history at Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A at Club de Golf Alcanada this week.
Ranked 15th in the race for 20 cards, the 19-year old from Newtownabbey could move to number one should he triumph at the season finale and current Rankings leader Jeremy Freiburghaus finishes no higher than fourth, while JC Ritchie, Alexander Knappe and Mikael Lindberg would also have to finish no higher than third.
Englishman Tommy Fleetwood became the youngest Challenge Tour Number One when he topped the Rankings in 2011 at just 20 years old after finishing second at the Challenge Tour Grand Final in Italy, and McKibbin now has the opportunity to write his name into the history books.
"I'm just going to focus on my own game and hopefully I can produce some solid golf and everything else will take care of itself," McKibbin said. "If I play the same way I have all season, I'm confident I can get the job done and secure my DP World Tour card.
"I'm focused on securing my card, but obviously, it would be fantastic to win the tournament because I know I still have a chance to win the Rankings."
Set to turn 20 next month, McKibbin has made 16 cuts from 22 Challenge Tour events this year, racking up seven top-10 finishes, including a runner-up spot in the Irish Challenge at The K Club.
"My game has developed so much this year," McKibbin said. "The courses have been fantastic, and the fields have been so strong that I have naturally had to up my game and make my misses a lot smaller because any mistakes get punished out here on the Challenge Tour. I've definitely grown as both a player and a person this year.
"The course is lovely this week and I think it will be a good test of golf. It looks generous off the tee, but once you get up there, you realise how narrow the fairways are and if you miss the fairway, the rough can be quite thick, which means the ball sits right down.
"It'll be great to have my family with me this week. They don't get to see me play that much, so hopefully I can put on a show for them."
Everyone in the 45-man field can make the top 20, including 42nd-ranked John Murphy.
"It's been two weeks since we last played a tournament and it feels like it's been two months because we've had such a busy summer," the Kinsale man said. "I feel very refreshed, looking forward to getting back out there and competing again.
"Just to get here was very important for everybody because of all the things that come with it. You obviously have the top 20, but the top 45 are all guaranteed into the Final Stage of Q-School (next week), so it's about trying to kick on and get into that top 20.
"I need a good finish here this week to get into that top 20, there's no doubt about it. If I can stick to what I've done in the last few months, stick to my process, working with my team and caddie around me and performing to the best of my ability, then hopefully that'll leave me in the right place at the end of the week."
Switzerland's Freiburghaus will himself look to make history by becoming the first Swiss player to win the Rankings, while current Number Two Ritchie would also become the first South African winner should he triumph this week.
Another piece of history could be made by Frenchman Clément Sordet, who is looking to become the first man to win this event on two separate occasions following his victory at the 2017 NBO Golf Classic Grand Final.
"I'm not going to look at the leaderboard or the Rankings, especially the projected Rankings, because I know if I play my game and stick to the process, I will finish inside the top 20," Sordet said.
"This year I have played so many tournaments, but I have really enjoyed the travel and I'm really enjoying my life right now.
"I can make history this week by becoming the first player to win the Challenge Tour Grand Final twice and I will do the best I can to make that happen.
"When I won five years ago in Oman, I was 11th in the Rankings, and I needed a good win because only the top 15 got their cards back then. I eventually won the Grand Final and finished second on the Rankings, so I was the happiest man in the world."
