No sooner had Patrick Reed become the second successive LIV Golf man to win the Hero Dubai Desert Classic than he dropped his bombshell. The 2018 Masters champion has yet to re-sign for the Saudi-funded circuit for this season — and he then explained how he could get back onto the PGA Tour for 2027.
Reed, 35, pocketed $1.53million (about £1.13million) for what he regards as his first victory in a DP World Tour (DPWT) event — the others were co-sanctioned — and then said he may be playing there more often. At the moment he can appear on the DPWT circuit only by paying fines for appearing in conflicting LIV events, but he was happy to muddy the waters in the aftermath of his triumph. That could well be bartering banter, designed to improve his next deal, and his words will pile some pressure on LIV bosses after Brooks Koepka’s exit and Bryson DeChambeau’s hedge-betting over his contract negotiations for 2027.
With only ten days to go until the LIV season starts in Riyadh, Reed said: “We’re still finalising the contract. We’re not complete on that yet.” So was he a free agent? “At the moment, yes sir.”
Reed is an honorary life member of the DP World Tour but at present he can only play its events by paying fines
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Had Reed, who is an honorary life member of the DPWT, played his last LIV event? “Not that I know of. Not right now. It really just kind of depends on everything. I haven’t talked to the team back home, but at the moment I plan on teeing it up in Riyadh. I’d be surprised if we’re not.”
More questions followed. What would he do if he did not play on the LIV circuit? “Continue to play out here [on the DPWT] and be in the top ten and be on the PGAT next year.” He was referring to the ten PGA Tour (PGAT) cards given to leading DPWT players, as well as the year suspension LIV players must serve between their last event and returning to the PGA Tour. Reed is not eligible for the new Returning Member Programme and said he was not in talks with the PGA Tour.
At the very least, it seems odd that Reed would get to such a late date without being contracted, but he will have read reports about how DeChambeau could become LIV’s first billion-dollar player. This win in a $9million Rolex Series event all but assures his place in the majors after rising to 29th in the world rankings, and will be useful leverage.
Reed has made clear his aim to be a worldwide player
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If Reed does play in Riyadh he will pick up another DPWT fine for playing a clashing event, but beyond that scenario the American deserves credit. Sometimes polarising, he has long supported the DPWT and is one player who gives credence to the “grow-the-game” guff spouted elsewhere. Last year, Reed played 32 events on the LIV, Asian and DP World Tours. For years he has stated his aim to be a worldwide player and, in fairness, he has put his money where his mouth is.
“Let’s be honest, as an American it’s easy to kind of stay at home and play on the PGA Tour, but to actually grow the game worldwide you have to travel worldwide. I’ve taken that to heart.”
A relatively uneventful round of 72 meant he finished the day where he began, at 14 under par with the same four-stroke advantage. Andy Sullivan bounded back from a tough start and finished with back-to-back birdies to secure outright second place after David Puig, the main threat to Reed at the start of the day, dropped out of contention on the back nine. Puig’s misery was compounded when he was then handed a two-shot penalty for grounding his club in a bunker on the last hole.
Puig, another LIV player, was Reed’s closest challenger for much of the day but faded away with a round of 75
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Meanwhile, gossip about LIV turning from the PGA Tour and forging a new alliance with the DPWT rumbles on. There is a break clause in the strategic alliance with the American tour next year, and the DPWT is at present trying to work out a compromise on fines that will enable the LIV pair of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton to be eligible for the Ryder Cup. If that becomes a fudge, the repercussions will be passionate, but Reed is showing how a merged schedule can work. He will be back on the DPWT in Bahrain this week. “I’ve got a 8.30 flight in the morning,” he said.
It was a slow-burning duel, with Puig joining Reed in an all-LIV final pairing. The Spaniard made early par saves and both dropped a shot on the 4th. Reed, not at his fluent best, then found a bunker and a waste area on the next two holes, and Puig showed flashes of his class by making back-to-back birdies to reach the turn only two strokes adrift.
It was close enough for nerves to fray. After the front nine, Reed was one of only two players in the field without a birdie on their final round, but he was on the green at the 542-yard par-five 10th in two. A birdie apiece, both Reed and Puig then dropped shots on the next and we awaited the crunch. It came on the 13th. Reed made his birdie and Puig found the bunker and a bogey. Back to a four-stroke comfort zone with holes running out.
The crowds welcomed the win. Some had left early, partly due to some rain and partly due to the stars failing to shine through the gloom. Hatton, the defending champion, and Rory McIlroy were 12 behind the winner, with Shane Lowry one shot better, after a 75-foot birdie putt, and Tommy Fleetwood one worse.