Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy Could Be Paired Together in Dubai After Fast Starts

There’s a chance that Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy—who both finished at six-under after the completion of the Dubai Desert Classic’s opening round—could be paired together this weekend. 

Although it’s still early, the group would be the most highly anticipated of the year in the wake of “Tee-Gate.” Earlier in the week, Reed and McIlroy had a tense interaction—or lack of interaction on McIlroy’s part—that set social media ablaze. 

Now that the two players are tied after Round 1, if both of their games continue to hold up, they might end up next to each other on the leaderboard once again after Round 2. 

Play at Emirates Golf Club has been on and off since Thursday morning, as inclement weather derailed the tournament’s scheduling. The desert landscape has seen rare heavy rainfall, and tournament organizers are now planning for a Monday finish. 

McIlroy skyrocketed up the leaderboard on Friday when he went out on the course to finish his final three holes. In just a brief 45 minutes, the Irishman put on quite the display—he made birdie, eagle, birdie to finish with a 66. 

“I would have been happy with anything around 70 the way I played, and then to come in and shoot 66 is quite the bonus,” McIlroy said. 

Reed similarly took advantage of the extra holes he had to finish on Friday morning—he eagled the last to tie McIlroy’s 66. At last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, the LIV Golf member missed the cut, but he seems to have much more control over the ball this week in Dubai. 

“I'm obviously really happy with the way I played. I felt like last week wasn't really a reflection of all the hard work I've been doing in the off-season. It was more getting rusty on playing tournament golf,” Reed said. 

Despite solid play, Reed and McIlroy are still two strokes back of leaders Richard Bland and Ian Poulter, both LIV players. LIV Golf members are able to compete in DP World Tour events, as they are awaiting the results of an arbitration case. The upcoming hearing will decide whether the DP World Tour can bar LIV members from competition, after several members of the Saudi-backed league challenged the ban over the summer.