Patrick Reed’s win at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic came with a bonus
Last year, Patrick Reed went to Macau to punch his ticket to the Open Championship.
With his five-year major tournament exemption from his 2018 Masters win expiring, Reed has taken every step to continue playing in four majors while a member of LIV Golf. He missed out on the 2024 US Open and Open Championship, but punched his ticket to all four in 2025 with the help of a runner-up finish at the International Series Macau.
Things could get easier for Reed in 2026 after he held off David Puig on Sunday to win the DP World Tour’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
With the win, Reed’s first win on the DP World Tour since winning the co-sanctioned WGC-Mexico tournament in 2020, he is expected to climb to No. 29 in the Official World Golf Rankings, according to OWGR guru Nosferatu.
Reed is banned from the Masters for life but needs to qualify (or be granted an exemption) for the other three. The PGA Championship often grants special exemptions to players in the top 100 in the OWGR who are not yet exempt. OWGR’s US Open cutoff is in the top 50 on the OWGR, and the Open’s is in the top 60. Both the R&A and USGA also added the LIV exemption last year, which is awarded to a player in the top three in an individual’s already exempt state.
Now ranked among the top 30 in the world — and with LIV likely to receive OWGR points this year — Reed’s path to the top three courses outside of Augusta National will seem easier than it has been in the past few years. A win in Dubai should allow him to score points in all four majors as long as he avoids the OWGR drop. Reed plays all over the world, and plays a lot. He played 10 DP World Tour events outside of the majors in 2025 and is expected to follow a similar schedule this season. He will put it together in Bahrain next weekend. All of that should give him a good chance of getting places at Aronimink, Shinnecock Hills and Royal Birkdale.
It’s all thanks to a strong display in Dubai that saw Reed jump out to a four-shot lead on the 54th hole, with LIV teammate David Puig entering the final round as the only one within shouting distance.
But Reed played differently to start Sunday’s final round and watched as Puig cut it in two on the turn. That’s when Reed’s singer Kessler Karain kicked him.
“Instead of just getting on the gas early, I tried to protect that lead,” Reed said. “Even Kess was like, ‘Hey, now it’s a dogfight. Now let’s move on. Go shoot under 9 on the back, nobody’s going to beat you.’ “
Reed birdied No. 13, and Puig tripped at home, allowing Reed to cruise to a four-run victory over Andy Sullivan.
Reed’s win in Dubai also earned him a $1.5 million winner’s cheque, which the 2018 Masters champion said he could use to pay off his DP World Tour fine when the LIV Golf season begins in February.
The DP World Tour fines members for playing at conflicting events, and Reed, a lifetime member, has no problem paying them.
“I’d rather put it together and play, too [if it] it costs me this, or whatever, I’ll go and play. Play well and you win,” Reed told reporters in Dubai on Friday Golf Digest Evin Priest.
“Go ahead and win early [in the season] and that will fix it,” Reed added later, noting that he would have to earn at least $1 million on the DP World Tour to break even.
Reed’s win comes one week after he said The Telegraph that the PGA Tour’s “Returning Member Program” is something he would consider if he is eligible. Reed called the PGA Tour “the best in the world” and reiterated his stance this week that he would look to return if the terms — which currently only include majors and Players winners from 2022 to 2025 — are extended to include him.
“I’ve always enjoyed being on the PGA Tour, and if that opportunity ever comes, then, you know, it’s going to be a decision,” Reed said. “But right now, that decision hasn’t come. For me, right now, I’m just playing here and kind of my schedule is set, where everything was planned to go forward. I have to get to LIV in Riyadh in two weeks and get it right. That’s been the plan all along. We’ll have to wait and see.”
For now, that’s Patrick Reed’s plan. And after winning in Dubai, his 2026 path to the majors should be much smoother than the past two years.
