Tom McKibbin increases lead at Hong Kong Open as Masters and Open incentives giving Northern Ireland prospect extra motiviation
Tom McKibbin followed up his course record 60 at the Hong Kong Open with a 65 to double his lead at Fanling.
The Northern Ireland golfer is 15 under par after the first two rounds and leads by two shots from American Peter Uihlein (63) and Thai duo Kiradech Aphibarnrat (65) and Jazz Janewattananond (66).
McKibbin is chasing the massive added incentive of securing a place in the Masters and The Open next year, with the winner on Sunday receiving an invitation to Augusta, while the top non-exempt finisher will gain a spot at Royal Birkdale next summer.
The 22-year-old LIV Golf star is aiming to join Rory McIlroy (2011) and Padraig Harrington (2003) on the list of Hong Kong Open champions and win his second professional tournament.
McKibbin, who started with a sensational 10-under round on Thursday, sank birdies at the first and third, and carded three more in a row from the 12th after eight successive pars.
“I probably played very similar golf, just didn’t hole as many putts as yesterday,” McKibbin said.
“But I felt like I played very, very similar - a couple of birdies at the start and then a little bit of a par train there in the middle. But I stayed nice and patient, and had three birdies in a row, which is nice.”
The Antrim player is focused on maintaining his consistency over the weekend and admits the prospect of earning his place at the Masters and The Open next year is giving him lots of additional motivation.
“Everything sort of has to be pretty good,” he said. “Once you start missing the fairways, it makes it very tricky with the rough.
“It’s quite unpredictable, a lot of flyers, and with the greens being quite small and undulating, everything has to stay pretty good.
“If something slips off, it’ll be hard to score, so hopefully I keep everything in line.
“Having those spots up for grabs, it’s great. It’s great for this tournament, great for us players, and the plan is to try and steal a couple of those.
“So I think it's a little bit of everything is very motivating and I'm just here playing and trying to do the best I can.”
While McKibbin is in fine form, fellow Northern Ireland player Graeme McDowell’s struggles continued, with the former US Open winner missing the five-under cut by one stroke.