Tom McKibbin off to flying start for Team Faldo in Florida

Tom McKibbin, Northern Ireland’s latest golfing prodigy, produced a classy display in the opening round of the Major Champions Invitational in Florida, writes Martin Dempster.
Tom McKibbin shot a five-under 67 in the Major Champions Invitational in Florida. Picture: Matthew Lewis/Getty ImagesTom McKibbin shot a five-under 67 in the Major Champions Invitational in Florida. Picture: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
Tom McKibbin shot a five-under 67 in the Major Champions Invitational in Florida. Picture: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

Representing Team Faldo,
the teenager carded a bogey-free five-under 67 at Bella Collina to set the pace along with Yu Siqin from China.

McKibbin birdied the second, sixth, tenth, 13th and 15th to get off to a flying start in an event created by six-time major winner Nick Faldo.

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Flying the flag for Tom Watson, Eilidh Henderson and Cormac Sharpe fared best of the Scots with matching 74s while Cameron Adam and Evanna Hynd both signed for 76s.

Meanwhile, Sandy Scott, one of Scotland’s leading hopes for this year’s Walker Cup, is enjoying a promising spring season on the US college circuit.

In his latest event, the Texas Tech junior recorded a top-15 finish in the Southern Heights Collegiate in Las Vegas, jumping six spots in the last round.

That followed Nairn man Scott, the 2015 Scottish Boys’ Stroke-Play champion, claiming fourth place in the Wyoming Desert 
Collegiate.

In the pro ranks, Craig Ross and Scott Henry are both nine shots off the pace after South African MG Keyser fired a record-breaking 61 in the second round of the Dubai Open presented by Turkish Airlines.