John E. Morgan, a regular on-course analyst on the DP World Tour’s broadcast, recalls an encounter with a young Tom McKibbin at Holywood Golf Club, his best moments from the season so far and looks ahead to the Ryder Cup.
In my broadcasting role, I have seen people that I have got to know well and become friends with, through the PGA EuroPro Tour, do really well on the DP World Tour. Thinking back to earlier this season and the Porsche European Open, there have been the likes of Jordan Smith and Marcus Armitage who have both won that event in recent years. Then you have got Tom McKibbin, a young, great talent. I remember serving him at the counter in the pro shop at Holywood Golf Club when I was working there in Northern Ireland nine to ten years ago. His Dad came in and bought him a birthday present which was Rory McIlroy’s golf bag, signed by him. To see that young lad who was inspired by Rory go on to develop and do his thing on the big stage was amazing.
There are many avenues to get your way onto the Tour and test your might against the best. We are lucky that we are blessed with the set-up that we have. The DP World Tour has been amazing over the years at helping nurture the next best young talent who then often go on to become Major winners or Ryder Cup players. This game is wide open. The talent is just so vast. It will always be that way. The players aren’t nervous at travelling, they are willing to live out of a suitcase for long spells.
Ockie Strydom is a case in point. There is no other person who has waited so long to get a win under his belt and there he goes and wins two titles on the DP World Tour within a few months of each other. He is a player who has battled hard with his body, found his form and beat a strong field at the Alfred Dunhill Championship on home soil at Leopard Creek and then in Singapore.
But there have been so many memorable moments on Tour so far this season. I loved seeing Daniel Gavins win in Ras Al Khaimah. The style he did it in was outrageous; finding water off the tee when you have the world on your left-hand side and then again with his second ball from the fairway. But for him to make the double bogey and win by one was ridiculous, pretty special.
It was brilliant to see Marcel Siem return to the winner’s circle. He has had some struggles off the course with his wife fighting cancer, losing his will for the game a little bit and then fighting so hard on the range to get back to where he is now. To see the outpouring of emotion when he won in India underlines just what it means.
I was at the Challenge Tour Grand Final last year. You don’t often see raw emotion like that. There was a sense of relief etched on his face as Matt Baldwin earned his DP World Tour card by finishing 19th on the Road to Mallorca. He has had to fight back to where he knows he belongs after playing on Tour for many years earlier in his career. To then go and win pretty early on in the season is unbelievable. I saw him working hard on his game at the Dubai Desert Classic, despite not being in the field. He had recently got engaged, done a sky dive with his fiancé and life seemed nice and relaxed. He had a different outlook. I asked him about the breed of players coming through from the Challenge Tour and he was in no doubt about the talent coming up behind. He admitted to me later after winning at the SDC Championship in South Africa that you’re never quite sure if you’ll get the win but it was really nice to see him come good.
Looking ahead, with just three events remaining in the Ryder Cup qualification process, the pressure on these guys is huge. If you are being the ultimate dreamer, the Ryder Cup is the pinnacle in my opinion. I think Bob MacIntyre has done enough. I love his game, his personality, watching him play. I think he would be great in that team environment. I think the Højgaard twins would work really well together, either as a foursomes or fourballs package. They have got two different styles, but I am sure that Luke Donald and his vice captains would definitely be able to help make them a force together. You’ve also got to remember that both Nicolai and Bob have won at Marco Simone.
Victor Perez won early doors in Abu Dhabi but hasn’t had the form of late but I don’t doubt because of his work ethic that he will be in the mix. My goodness, Meronk also won the Italian Open at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club earlier this year. There are just so many who you can talk about. Pablo Larrazábal is such a passionate character. I think he probably needs another win under his belt ASAP to give himself a chance. He would be another great character in the team. You might have to calm him down though because he is like a kid in a candy store!
It would be good to see Ludvig Aberg come over to Europe and make a statement because there is a lot of hype around him. What I hear is that Luke Donald believes he has everything to be a success. I don’t think he is going to worry about pressure, he’ll just focus on his game and potentially go on to rack up a lot of wins. But if he was to come over and play on the DP World Tour in the coming weeks then that would help him spend time around some of the Europeans a little bit because he might be playing in the Ryder Cup.
