Gavin Cooney reports from Quail Hollow Golf Club

TOM MCKIBBIN WAS the only one of the Irish quintet at the PGA Championship to score under par on the opening day at Quail Hollow, and would have repeated the trick on Friday had it not been for a bogey on his final hole, the fiendish 18th. 

An even-par 71 means McKibbin sits at one-under for the tournament and comfortably within the cut line, which continues his steady, unsung progress at major championships. 

The 22-year-old is making his third major appearance this week, and made the cut at each of his two previous two: first at last year’s US Open at Pinehurst (finishing T41) and then at the Open at Royal Troon, where he finished T66. 

“I’m as calm as I can be”, said McKibbin after his round. 

“It’s very daunting and very uncomfortable out there sometimes. One bad swing, one bad shot and you can easily make a double out there. You’re on the edge of your seat over every shot and praying you get a good one.” 

McKibbin made the sole birdie of his round on the par-five 15th, from where he made a string of pars before dropping a shot on 18. That bogey was a product of bad luck, with mud attaching to his ball and messing with its flight on McKibbin’s second shot. Much of the field have spent the competition thus far complaining the tournament will not allow them clean the mud off their ball in the fairway, which they are collecting owing to the soggy conditions. 

“It was my first one of the week, so very lucky”, said McKibbin. “Obviously it’s quite tricky and it went a little bit left which wasn’t nice, but I got away with them on the first 35 holes so I was bound to get one at one point.” 

McKibbin ranks among the top 30 in the field so far this week for driving distance, and he says he’s added about 10 yards in distance off the tee since last year. That improvement is not the product of a gymwork, he says, looking at his skinny arms when asked if he’s added extra muscle and replying with a deprecatory, “it doesn’t look like it.” 

Instead, he says, the distance has come from a more regular training regime and the additional practice time created by his joining the LIV Tour. McKibbin was due to make his debut on the PGA Tour this year, but was instead tempted by a lucrative move to Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII team on the Saudi-backed tour.

That move precluded him from qualifying for major championships, but he is playing this week under a special invite from the tournament organisers, who are keen to pack the field with as many elite players as they can. 

Bryson DeChambeau aside, moving to LIV has seen once-competitive stars struggle for relevance at the majors, but McKibbin says it has worked for him. 

“I think it’s prepared me quite well”, he said. “I have got to play with a lot of great players and when I came here I felt a lot more comfortable. Especially in the last couple of weeks the pins out there [on LIV] have been very difficult, and when I came here this week they haven’t actually felt too bad. I think it’s prepared me quite nicely.”