The two young guns were, by accident or design, assigned into a group alongside Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald.

Both Tom McKibbin and Alex Fitzpatrick didn’t flinch.

While Fitzpatrick – who has enjoyed a magnificent year on the PGA Tour which included a breakthrough win alongside his brother Matt in the New Orleans Classic and a journey all the way to the Tour Championship – opened with a finely compiled 69, McKibbin signed for a very satisfying 68, two-under-par.

McKibbin is likely to have more time playing on the DP World Tour given LIV’s financial woes, entering bankruptcy earlier this week and the uncertainty of how the proposed LIV 2.0 will evolve, but at least the 23-year-old Northern Irishman’s desire remains unabated with a focus on contending in the Irish Open here and also with aspirations to play in next year’s Ryder Cup at Adare Manor.

Days like these help.

McKibbin, still wearing the Legion XIII apparel, managed to get off to a strong start with birdies on three of his opening four holes, reach the turn in 33, added another birdie on the 10th before dropping his first shot on the 11th. A closing bogey, after driving into the bunker down the left, saw him sign for that 68. It was achieved with a calmness, unflustered by neither the pace of play or the conditions.

A sixth-placed finish in the British Masters last month had shown McKibbin’s game was in good shape and he brought that with him into an Irish Open that has always had an important focus for him, ever since attending the tournament at Royal Portrush in 2012.

“I feel like the last month or so, my game seems to sort of clicked a little bit. So hopefully three more good days and I could be right up there,” said McKibbin, adding: “I’ve started putting much better, much more consistent and I’m having better days on the greens, holing one or two more putts from mid-range which has definitely helped the rounds a little bit. Once that sort of kicks in, the confidence goes up a little bit and that leads to these good rounds.

“If I can keep having these top finishes, I’ll get in contention more,” said McKibbin who won the European Open on the DP World Tour in 2023 before moving to LIV, while he added the Hong Kong Open on the Asian Tour to his list of wins late last year.

He added: “I feel like my game gets better every year since I’ve been out here.”

In the conditions, McKibbin admitted to leaning heavily on his caddie Ricky McCormick.

“It’s very important to have someone out there who I’m very friendly with and I’ve known for a while and we can have a good laugh out there. I mean, there’s plenty of time out to fill up a conversation. It’s great to have him by my side,” said McKibbin who also showed strength of character in staying focused on golf’s longest day.

“I think we waited on the tee box three times maybe, four times while there was another group in front. So obviously a lot of waiting around on difficult tee shots. It’s just very tiring. But I think on a day like that, everything’s very challenging.”