Tom McKibbin’s dominant victory at the Link Hong Kong Open on Sunday came with an additional prize: a spot in the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
McKibbin started the final round at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling just one shot ahead of MJ Maguire, the journeyman pro who played his college golf in North Florida. McKibbin, who had committed to Florida before turning pro instead and later joining LIV Golf last year, birdied five of his first seven holes on the back nine to pull away. Although he made his final bogey, McKibbin still fired 7-under 63 to finish at 27 under, as much as seven strokes ahead of fellow LIV member Peter Uihlein.
Next year’s Open start will be the 22-year-old McKibbin’s third appearance. He missed the cut at Royal Portrush last summer and was T-66 in his 2024 debut at Royal Troon. McKibbin has also recorded starts in a US Open (T-41, 2024) and PGA Championship (T-50, 2025).
This is McKibbin’s third professional victory, following victories at the 2023 Porsche European Open on the DP World Tour and a Minor League Golf Tour event in 2022, which included a shot over PGA Tour player Eric Cole.
Maguire dropped with a final score of 70 to 19 under, where he finished in third place with Louis Oosthuizen and Tomoyo Ikemura. Wenyi Ding, who turned pro last fall from Arizona State, finished in sixth place with Matt Jones and Scott Hend.
The Hong Kong Open was the third of 15 Open Qualifying Series events for the 2026 Open. Marco Penge (Spanish Open) and Naoyuki Kataoka (Japan Open) qualified earlier.
The next Open Qualifying Series event is the Australian Open, which takes place from December 4 to 7.
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