Refusal of 22-year-old to elaborate on possible exit from PGA Tour almost as good as a guarantee he will jump ship to Saudi-backed circuit
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Aconfirmationwithoutanactualconfirmation?That’swhatitsoundedlikewhenhisproposedmovetotheSaudiArabiaPIF-backedLIVGolfwasputtoTomMcKibbininadvanceofthisweek’sTeamCup,wherethe22-year-oldNorthernIrishmanispartoftheGreatBritainandIrelandteamagainstcontinentalEuropewhichservesasapre-RyderCupwatchlistforcaptainLukeDonald.
“I’mnotgoingtomakeanycommentsthisweekoutofrespectforJustin(Rose)andLuke(Donald)andthistournament,”respondedMcKibbin,speakingtoGolfDigestMiddleEastattheeventinAbuDhabi.
McKibbinemergedasamaintargetofJonRahmtobesignedupfortheSpaniard’sLegionXIIIteamontheLIVcircuit–firstreportedbyTen-GolfinSpainandconfirmedbyBBCNI–whichmeanshewillhavetoforfeithisrecently-wonPGATourcardintheUnitedStatesfortheupcomingseason.
However,McKibbinwillcontinuetobeeligibletoplayanumberofeventsontheDPWorldTour–similartoRahmandTyrrellHatton–andwillactuallymakehisseas