Rising LIV golf star Tom McKibbin shot a new tournament record 27-under 253 in his victory at the Hong Kong Open on the Asian Tour on Sunday. He did something far more important in the process, too.
With the seven-shot victory over fellow LIV golfer Peter Uihlein, the 22-year-old Northern Irishman earned exemptions into the 2026 Masters and Open Championship. Both Augusta National and the R&A changed eligibility criteria in August announcing that winners of national opens would receive invitations. The Hong Kong Open is one of six national opens on the schedule.
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This is McKibbin’s second victory as a professional, the first coming on the DP World Tour in 2023 at the Porsche European Open. He began this week with a first-round, course-record 60 then shot back-to-back 65s before closing with a 63, going wire-to-wire in the win.
“I played some of the best golf I’ve ever played,” McKibbin told SkySports. “To shoot those scores around here, it’s pretty special.”
The Masters in April will be McKibbin’s first appearance at Augusta National and just his fifth in a major. As for the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale next July, that will be his third consecutive appearance (T-66, MC).
“Very excited. To go back and play my third Open, it will be very cool,” he said. “And to have that drive down Magnolia Lane for the first time ever will be even more special. Historic tournaments like this deserve their spots, and it’s great to take advantage of that.”
McKibbin joins Chris Gotterup (Scottish Open), Marco Penge (Spanish Open) and Naoyuki Kataoka (Japan Open) as the most recent beneficiaries of the new eligibility criteria. Two more invitations will be earned in national opens, one at the Australian Open in December and another at the South African Open in late February.
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