McKibbin rallies with closing 64 to share 27th in France
Tom McKibbin followed a bogey six at the third with eight birdies in a seven-under 64 to tie for 27th in the FedEx Open de France.
The Holywood star finished on eight-under-par, eight strokes behind England’s Dan Bradbury who came from two strokes back to emerge victorious at Le Golf National.
The Englishman, whose maiden victory came at the 2022 Joburg Open, carded a bogey-free five under par final round of 66 to win by one stroke from compatriot Sam Bairstow, Germany’s Yannik Paul and the Danish pair of Thorbjørn Olesen and Jeff Winther.
After a birdie at the first hole, Bradbury stayed patient as he parred the next eight and then made his second gain of the day at the tenth.
At one stage he was part of an 11-way tie for first place but pulled clear as he reeled off three consecutive birdies from the 14th hole.
Winther signed for the clubhouse lead at 15 under and was joined on that number by Paul as Bradbury played the formidable final four-hole stretch at Le Golf National in two under par.
He held his nerve on the 18th as he two-putted for a 16 under par total and Olesen and Bairstow could only par the last to join the group in second place.
The 25-year-old started the week in 98th spot on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, fighting to secure his DP World Tour playing rights for 2025, and left Le Golf National having earned his place at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship next month.
Englishman Matthew Jordan and Italy’s Francesco Laporta shared sixth on 14 under par, while Ukrainian Lev Grinberg finished on six under par to claim low-amateur honours.
“A very, very solid day,” Bradbury said. “Lots of chances. Felt a little frustrated there kind of at the start of the back nine.
“Missed good chances on 12 and 13. To be honest I thought I was going to drop a few back there, knowing that those holes are easier and coming into the last four, you never know what's going to happen.
“I always look at leaderboards, so I know that Gunner (Wiebe) and Joe (Dean) who I was playing with, two shots behind, they were like 15th, and I was in second or third at the time.
“So I knew that it was pretty bunched up at that point. It was more a case of just staying in it, and see what happens coming in.
“When I teed up at Wentworth, I was 100th in the rankings with a few Back Nine events coming up, lots of points available, I was far from safe.
“Luckily I had a decent week in Madrid and played okay at St Andrews and the Dunhill. I didn't have the result there. But I built a little bit of momentum up and yeah, took that into this week and played four solid rounds.”
