last year, Patrick Reed went to Macau to punch his ticket to the Open Championship.
With his five-year major championship ban from winning the 2018 Masters having expired, Reed has taken every avenue possible to still play in four majors while a member of LIV Golf. He missed out on the 2024 US Open and Open, but punched his ticket to the four in 2025 with the help of a second-place finish at the Macau International Series.
Things could be 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 DP World Tour victory since winning the co-sanctioned WGC-Mexico Championship in 2020, he is projected to climb to No. 29 in the Official World Golf Ranking, according to OWGR teacher Nosferatu.
Reed is expelled from the Master for life but must qualify (or be granted an exemption) for the other three. The PGA Championship typically offers special exemptions to players inside the top 100 on the OWGR who are not already exempt. The US Open’s OWGR finish is for the top 50 on the OWGR, while the Open’s finish is for the top 60. Both the R&A and USGA also added an exemption from LIV last year, given to the player within the top three in the individual rankings who is already exempt.
Now in the top 30 in the world — and with LIV can get OWGR points this year – Reed’s path to the top three outside of Augusta National will appear to be easier than it has been in recent years. Victory in Dubai should allow him to earn points in all four majors as long as he avoids an OWGR drop. Reed plays all over the world, and he plays a lot. He played in 10 DP World Tour events outside of the 2025 championships and is expected to follow a similar schedule this season. He will do it in Bahrain next weekend. All this should give him a good chance of securing points at Aronimink, Shinnecock Hills and Royal Birkdale.
All thanks to a consistent performance in Dubai that saw Reed jump to a four-shot lead through 54 holes, with LIV compatriot David Puig entering the final round as the only one within calling distance.
But Reed played conservatively to start Sunday’s final round and watched as Puig cut it to two at the turn. That’s when Reed Kessler’s caddy gave Karain a shot.
“Instead of keeping my foot on the gas early, I tried to protect that lead,” Reed said. “Even Kess said, ‘Hey, now it’s a dogfight. Now let’s begin. Go shoot below level nine, nobody’s gonna beat you.” “
Reed hit No. 13, and Puig tripped at home, which allowed Reed to cruise to a four-stroke victory over Andy Sullivan.
Reed’s victory in Dubai also gave him a $1.5 million winner’s check, which the 2018 Masters champion said he could use to face the fines he will incur from the DP World Tour once the LIV Golf season begins in February.
The DP World Tour fines members for playing in conflicting events, and Reed, a lifetime member, has no problem paying them.
“I’d rather do it and play, and (if) it costs me, whatever, I’m going to go play. Play well and it will pay off,” Reed told reporters in Dubai on Friday, via Golf Digest’s Evin Priest.
“Go ahead and win early (in the season) and that will take care of it,” Reed added later, noting that he would need to win at least $1 million on the DP World Tour to make the cut.
Reed’s win comes a week after that said Telegraph that the PGA Tour’s new “Returning Member Program” is something he would consider if he were right. Reed called the PGA Tour “the best in the world” and reiterated his stance this week that he would look to return if the criteria — which currently only covers major championships and player wins from 2022 to 2025 — is ever expanded to cover him.
“I’ve always loved being out there on the PGA Tour, and if that opportunity ever comes up whenever it is, you know, it’s going to be a decision,” Reed said. “But right now, that decision hasn’t been made there yet. For me, at this point, I’m just playing here and my schedule is kind of set, where everything is set up front. I’m supposed to go to LIV in Riyadh in two weeks and finish it. That was the plan all along. We just have to wait and see.”
For now, that’s Patrick Reed’s plan. And after a win in Dubai, his 2026 path to the majors should be much smoother than it has been in the past two years.
