The 20-year-old displayed maturity beyond his years as he battled home favourites Max Kieffer and Marcel Siem for the title at Green Eagle Golf Courses.

The three players shared the lead at one stage on the back nine. McKibbin, who made the turn three under par, recovered from dropped shots on the 11th and 13th holes with a birdie on the 15th to move clear on eight under par.

What a great win by @tommckibbin8. Not just a very talented golfer, he really is a nice lad. The future of Irish golf, European golf and Ryder cup golf is in good hands. So happy for Dave Mcneilly too, he did a fine job letting Tom play to his strengths. @DPWorldTour https://t.co/epz1GRDfxo

— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) June 4, 2023

Kieffer narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 18th which would have taken him to eight under, settling for a seven under par total. Siem joined him on that score with a birdie on the 72nd hole, as did Frenchman Julien Guerrier who also shared second place.

Big move up Race to Dubai Rankings

Tom McKibbin, who could now move to to 22nd on the Race to Dubai Rankings after this win, hit his drive on the 18th just right of the fairway, but then hit a nerveless five iron into the heart of the green, two-putting for birdie, a three under round of 70 and a nine under par total.

He joins Holywood Golf Club course mate Rory McIlroy as a winner on the 2023 Race to Dubai after the four-time Major Champion’s triumph at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January.

Reaction from new DP World Tour winner

Discussing his approach to today’s final round, the Co Down player, who could now move to a career-high 159th on the Official World Rankings, admitted;

“I approached it the same as the first three days. The course is hard, the way I played the first three days was good enough so I thought if I played the same sort of golf and shot three or four under it might be enough. I knew going out it was such a hard golf course that you didn’t have to force loads of birdies and there wouldn’t be too many people going too low. That helped a bit. I played it the exact same and fortunately played a little bit better.”

McKibben, who graduated from the European Challenge Tour by finishing tenth on the 2022 Road to Mallorca Rankings, become the second Ulster golfer to win the Porsche European Open following the success of Dungannon’s Darren Clarke in 2001.

Shot of the day. Shot of the week.

Take a bow, @tommckibbin8 #PEO23 pic.twitter.com/2JEOKs8gRj

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) June 4, 2023

“(My hands on 18) were alright actually,” McKibbin stated. “I hit five iron. I picked a club I knew wouldn’t go in the water. I hit it right edge of the green and if it turned over I knew it would go further, so I had no worries. But it was such a good shot, it felt pretty amazing.”

So happy to get my first win at the @PorscheEuropeanOpen on the @DpWorldTour.
A huge thank you to my Mum & Dad, my team, my caddie Dave McNeilly & my sponsors for all their support.
To everyone who has supported me – thank you, I really do appreciate it!! pic.twitter.com/XokrY6vlzS

— Tom McKibbin (@tommckibbin8) June 4, 2023

“I’ve learned that I’m good enough to win. I always thought I was, but to prove it today was pretty special. I guess I’ve learned a lot from failures, missing cuts by a shot and missing things slightly. So to take those things I’ve learned and put them into play was nice,” said the Irish golfer, whose best finish this season had been tied-12th at the Singapore Classic..

Select Final Scores:

283 T MCKIBBIN 72 69 72 70,
285 M KIEFFER (GER) 69 71 75 70, M SIEM (GER) 71 73 70 71, J GUERRIER (FRA) 72 74 67 72,
287 F LACROIX (FRA) 73 73 71 70,
288 J SMITH (ENG) 70 71 72 75, D LAW (SCO) 75 66 72 75, J AXELSEN (DEN) 77 67 69 75, A BJ?RK (SWE) 72 72 69 75,
290 R LANGASQUE (FRA) 73 75 74 68, R GOUVEIA (POR) 76 73 70 71, C SYME (SCO) 73 77 69 71, P WARING (ENG) 71 72 72 75,
291 B EASTON (RSA) 77 69 76 69, F LAPORTA (ITA) 74 74 74 69, P FIGUEIREDO (POR) 73 74 73 71, R MACINTYRE (SCO) 76 68 74 73, F SCHOTT (GER) 71 75 72 73, E FERGUSON (SCO) 71 72 72 76,
292 M PAVON (FRA) 75 74 72 71, S TARRIO (ESP) 71 72 73 76,

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Finishing on a 19 under par total, Herbert had three shots to spare over Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg. American Johannes Veerman was a further shot behind on 15 under.

A final round of 68 from Hebert, following rounds of 64, 67 and 70, saw him take his second European Tour victory on his 65th appearance.

Hebert becomes just the third Australian to win the Irish Open. Ossie Pickworth in 1950 and Brett Rumford in 2004 were the only Australians to have previously won Ireland’s national open.

Winner’s reaction

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” admitted the Australian. “It’s just so – it’s a bit fulfilling, really. I felt like I was at one of my low points in my life when I played here two years ago at Lahinch in the Irish Open, and now to feel like I’ve done full swing and come back around and won the event that I was at a pretty low point at, it’s pretty satisfying. I’m very happy standing here right now.”

The 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open winner continued:

“Obviously chip-out on seven and then make that really nice putt for par. And then just scrambled all the way down eight and made that; that could have been the turning point of the day, if those two putts don’t go in, you make two bogeys. To keep that card really clean out there and not come back to the field and give them a chance, I’m happy about that.

“And later the bunker shots on 15 and 16, I felt like I scrambled so nicely all day. I didn’t feel like I holed a lot of putts yesterday, so to feel I holed the putts today, so good, so good.”

A former winner of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, Herbert’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open success is a 136th win by an Australian on the European Tour.

Today’s win will see Herbert rise in both the Race To Dubai Rankings and the Official World Golf Rankings as well as achieve a place in this year’s Open Championship.

Shane Lowry, who carded a 66 today for a four-round score of 279 (-9), finished as the leading Irish player in tied-23rd place.

A final round of 72 from Cormac Sharvin saw him finish two shots behind the Offaly native.

Graeme McDowell signed for a 74 on Sunday to finish on three under par, while Rory McIlroy, who also had a 74 in the final round, ended the tournament on two under par.

Dubai Duty Free Irish Open scores here

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Herbert, who has led since Thursday, holds a one-stroke lead. He bids to become just the third Australian winner in the event’s 94-year history, and the first wire-to-wire winner since 2014.

The 25-year-old had his maiden European Tour victory at the 2020 Omega Dubai Desert Classic last year. He now stands on the brink of winning one of the Europe’s most historic national opens. He would join Ossie Pickworth (1950) and Brett Rumford (2004) as Australian winners of the prestigious title.

Herbert opened up a three-stroke advantage at one stage on Saturday. In his opening ten holes he achieved four birdies without a single dropped shot.

The Victoria player struggled to adjust to the swirling winds in the late afternoon. Bogeys on the 11^th and 14^th holes pulled him back to the field. He eventually signed for a 70, for a 15 under par total.

Herbert’s reaction

“I played okay,” admitted Herbert. “In one aspect, it’s kind of frustrating. I could have really put a good one away and felt like I got too far away from the majority of the field, but 15 probably has just left the door open a touch.”

Looking ahead to round 4 on Sunday, the Australian said:

“So tomorrow is a massive chance, and obviously I think in time to come I’ll probably look back on it and realise it more, but at the moment, I’m trying to stay pretty focused on the moment and really feel like I just play my game and let that sort of take care of itself.”

American Johannes Veerman is only a shot behind after shooting a 67. South African Justin Harding is two shots further back on 12 under after a 65 today.

Former Ryder Cup players Tommy Fleetwood and Thomas Pieters lie six shots off the pace in a share of 12^th position.

Cormac Sharvin is leading Irishman

Ardglass golfer Cormac Sharvin is the leading Irish player. He carded a 69 for a seven under total. He lies two shots ahead of Graeme McDowell on five under while Rory McIlroy carded a one over par 73 for a four under total.

Third Round Scores

201 L HERBERT (AUS) 64 67 70,
202 J VEERMAN (USA) 65 70 67,
204 J HARDING (RSA) 69 70 65,
205 R KARLBERG (SWE) 71 67 67, F LAPORTA (ITA) 68 69 68, D WHITNELL (ENG) 67 67 71,
206 A JOHNSTON (ENG) 67 70 69, R RAMSAY (SCO) 67 69 70, J SCRIVENER (AUS) 67 69 70, G FORREST (SCO) 66 67 73, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 67 66 73,
207 A RAI (ENG) 69 71 67, T PIETERS (BEL) 70 69 68, T FLEETWOOD (ENG) 67 72 68, S CROCKER (USA) 67 70 70, A ROZNER (FRA) 68 68 71, R BLAND (ENG) 69 66 72,
208 J MORRISON (ENG) 70 68 70, S BROWN (ENG) 68 69 71, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 69 66 73,
209 M ANTCLIFF (AUS) 69 72 68, C SHARVIN  73 67 69, Z LOMBARD (RSA) 69 71 69, G BHULLAR (IND) 71 68 70, C PAISLEY (ENG) 68 71 70, W BESSELING (NED) 69 69 71, J WINTHER (DEN) 70 68 71, J CATLIN (USA) 69 68 72, M LEE (AUS) 68 68 73, C BEZUIDENHOUT (RSA) 67 68 74,
210 K APHIBARNRAT (THA) 68 72 70, T KANAYA (JPN) 71 68 71, M KAYMER (GER) 67 70 73, J GUERRIER (FRA) 68 68 74,
211 M WARREN (SCO) 71 70 70, G MCDOWELL 74 67 70, D FICHARDT (RSA) 73 68 70, C SYME (SCO) 69 71 71, D VAN DRIEL (NED) 72 68 71, F ZANOTTI (PAR) 68 72 71, J SENIOR (ENG) 72 68 71, D LAW (SCO) 73 66 72, M JORDAN (ENG) 69 69 73, J SMITH (ENG) 69 69 73, D HOWELL (ENG) 71 67 73, A COCKERILL (CAN) 68 70 73, A ARNAUS (ESP) 67 69 75,
212 T TREE (ENG) 72 69 71, P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP) 69 72 71, J WALTERS (RSA) 69 71 72, S KIM (USA) 72 68 72, B HEBERT (FRA) 70 69 73, R MCILROY 72 67 73, M KIEFFER (GER) 71 67 74, G HAVRET (FRA) 67 69 76, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 68 68 76,
213 S SHARMA (IND) 74 67 72, D COUPLAND (ENG) 73 68 72, N COLSAERTS (BEL) 67 73 73, S LOWRY 70 69 74,
214 R H?JGAARD (DEN) 70 71 73, V NORRMAN (SWE) 68 72 74, O FARR (WAL) 72 66 76, A BJORK (SWE) 72 66 76,
215 G PORTEOUS (ENG) 70 70 75,
216 A LEVY (FRA) 68 73 75,
218 S JAMIESON (SCO) 68 73 77,
223 K KITAYAMA (USA) 69 72 82, R JACQUELIN (FRA) 70 70 83,

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