Northern Ireland's Tom McKibbin with final-day rise up KLM Open rankings off superb 65
Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin posted a superb six-under final round at the KLM Open to fire a path up the closing leaderboard and secure sixth.
Hopes of claiming a qualifying spot for a second major appearance - at next month’s Open Championship, having featured in the recent US Open - were dashed despite the late push.
Winner Guido Migliozzi and Joe Dean each claimed that bonus as the two highest-ranked players not yet secure in July’s Royal Troon field – with the former winning a three-man play-off that featured the latter plus Marcus Kinhult.
However, no player on the final round managed to better McKibbin’s 65 – a tally he shared with Johannes Veerman (tied 10th) and Andrea Pavan (tied fourth).
Birdies arrived on the second, fifth and sixth over a front-nine 34 which featured a sole blemish on the ninth with a bogey.
Back-to-back birdies arrived for the second time in his round over 10 and 11 before cutting further shots off his score on the 15th and final holes to sit alongside a string of pars.
That impressive 65 followed on from rounds of 69, 70 and 71 across his trip to the Netherlands.