The NEXT Rory McIlroy "not fazed" after locking up DP World Tour card

The last weekend of the Challenge Tour is one of the most significant weeks of European golf as many players battle it out to earn their cards for the DP World Tour.

20 players found a way to earn their playing rights on the former European Tour's 2023 schedule which will have total prize money of $144.2 million and a minimum of $150,000 in earnings if you play 15 events.

One of these players was Tom McKibbin, a 19-year-old from Holywood in Northern Ireland. As you can imagine, comparisons have always been drawn to four-time major champion Rory McIlroy who comes from the same place.

McKibbin endeavours to ignore the McIlroy talk and focus on his own career. He certainly did this when shooting a 66 in the final round of the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final in Spain to finish 10th in the end-of-season points list.

20th would've done the trick, but this was under threat after his first two rounds of 73 at Club de Golf Alcanada. McKibbin is now on his way to setting the DP World Tour alight, just as McIlroy did in his early career.

From youngest to oldest in the field this week.



Tom McKibbin, 19 years old

Matthew Baldwin, 36 years old#RolexGrandFinal pic.twitter.com/3KBdRXp4sk

— Challenge Tour (@Challenge_Tour) October 31, 2022

"I don't bother with comparisons anymore. I try and stay out of it, don't listen to any of that," McKibbin said to BBC Sport Golf.

"Being compared (to McIlroy) is obviously a huge honour. I've heard it for so long, seven or eight years now, that it doesn't even faze me anymore. I'm used to it.

"Rory has been phenomenal. I've got to play a lot of golf with him and pick his brain. That has been a huge help.

"It's been a goal of mine for a while and I've finally ticked that off. There has been expectation but I haven't put myself under any pressure. I've just tried to take every tournament as it comes and see how well I could do really," he added.

"When I started to play well in the summer that made me think and see how far up the rankings I could go. My game has elevated."

McKibbin finished tied fourth in the English Trophy in October ahead of the finale in Spain. This was one of eight top-10s he made in 2022 and he also finished second at the Irish Challenge in July.

He had a small taste for the DP World Tour this season having played in three events. He impressively came tied for 10th at the ISPS Handa World Invitational at Galgorm Castle (for who he became Touring Professional in June 2021) and Massareene.