It’s 2023, and the feud between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf appears to be as strong as ever, at least as far as Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed are concerned.
Following McIlroy’s explanation on Wednesday morning of what apparently went down on the driving range at the Dubai Desert Classic on Tuesday, Reed gave his take on the tee-tossing incident later on.
Reed provided insight into the incident from his point of view via Golf Monthly.
“Because of the relationship I’ve had with Rory — let’s be honest, we’ve had some great battles at Augusta and other tournaments and our friendship’s been pretty good up until obviously joining LIV. I walked over there and wished Harry (Diamond, McIlroy’s caddie), ‘Happy New Year’ and then Rory because it is the first time I have seen them. Harry shook my hand and Rory just looked down there and was messing with his Trackman and kind of decided to ignore us. We all know where it came from, being part of LIV. Since my tees are Team Aces LIV tees I flicked him one. It was kind of a funny shot back. Funny how a small little flick has turned into basically me stabbing him and throwing a tee at him.”
According to Reed, the tee he tossed towards the four-time major champion was branded with his LIV Golf team name: 4 Aces GC, Per Sports Illustrated Golf’s Gabrielle Herzig.
“He saw me and he decided not to to react,” Reed said. “But it is one of those things. If you’re going to act like an immature little child then you might as well be treated like one.”
According to an Associated Press and ESPN report, McIlroy was “approached by Reed” at the driving range, but he said he was busy practicing and “didn’t feel the need to acknowledge Reed.” In discussing the incident, the top-ranked player in the world jabbed that he would’ve expected Reed to file a lawsuit if the “roles were reversed and I’d have thrown that tee at him.”
McIlroy was served a subpoena by lawyers of the 2018 Masters winner on Christmas Eve.
Reed gave his side of that story Wednesday, telling Golf Monthly that the subpoena has “nothing to do” with McIlroy, but instead involved the lawsuit between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
The Dubai Desert Classic runs from Thursday through Sunday. The rivals are also both slated to compete at the 2023 Masters in April, after a host of members of the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series (including Reed) received invites to the major in December.
