DUBAI — Patrick Reed is a true golfer of the world.

It’s why he’s in the Middle East to kick off his 2026 season with three DP World Tour events before the LIV Golf season starts next month. That globetrotting commitment to both the DP World and Asian tours is why he’s still ranked No. 41 in the world, despite LIV not receiving Official World Golf Ranking points.

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Earlier this month, the 2018 Masters champion was enjoying a well-earned rest following his 32-event 2025 season when news broke that fellow LIV golfer Brooks Koepka was going back to the PGA Tour via the newly established Returning Member Program. The plan was created for LIV players who have not been a PGA Tour member for two years and who have won the Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, Open Championship or Players Championship from 2022-2025. Only Koepka, Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm were eligible, and the latter three said last week they would continue to play on LIV.

Reed, who has played on LIV since its 2022 inaugural season and has one individual victory in 45 total starts, didn’t have the ability to consider the opportunity, but at the Dubai Invitational on Saturday, he was asked, hypothetically, if he would think about returning. “I mean, of course; if it were up to me, I’d play everywhere,” Reed said.

He does play everywhere. In 2025, the Texan teed up in 14 LIV events, four majors, 10 DP World Tour tournaments and four Asian Tour stops. “I’m already playing on three tours, why not add one more?” he added with a laugh. “I always enjoyed my time out there on the PGA Tour. Let’s be honest, out there, it’s the best tour in the world. Look at what they’ve done in golf … I could see myself playing there at some point again. But right now, you just never know; everything’s so fluid.”

Since donning the green jacket in 2018, Reed, 35, has been a regular feature in majors. He was fourth at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock immediately after his Masters victory and 10th at the 2019 Open Championship. He logged top-10s at Augusta National in 2020 and 2021 before becoming a serious Masters contender again. Reed finished T-4 in 2023 and T-3 last year, where he was genuinely in the hunt on the back nine on Sunday.

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Despite that form in golf’s four biggest events recently, Reed is not eligible for the Returning Member Program, given it rewards major victories after LIV debuted in 2022.

“Right now, it’s not even a decision,” Reed said. “That was for ’22 and on winners. So, I definitely would have to think about it … if that number [came] down to 2018. Right now, it’s hard to say really what we’re going to do or anything like that. Right now, the biggest thing is trying to play some good golf these [two] weeks, not only to solidify myself out here on DP, but to have a good momentum going into the year.”

Reed, a nine-time PGA Tour winner, was given honorary life membership on the DP World Tour in 2019 due to his staunch support of the European circuit. His commitment will run even deeper this year when he is likely to be paying fines for each LIV event he plays that conflicts with a DP World Tour tournament. The amount of each fine is not known.

As reported by The Telegraph, LIV Golf has paid fines in the past on behalf of its players but will no longer do so in 2026. That won’t stop Reed though, although he says he’d “love for it to be resolved.”

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“I always plan on showing my support on this tour and it’s not going to stop me,” Reed said. “Starting this year, any fines or anything like that will go on the players, not on LIV. Right now, playing [these three] DP World Tour events [before the LIV season starts Feb. 4], I’m not getting fined.

“Me travelling and playing around the world … it helps this tour, but also it’s something I’ve always held true to my heart and wanted to do. So, if that’s what it takes [paying the fines], that’s what it takes.

For one reason.

“I’ve always wanted to be a worldwide player,” he said.