Patrick Reed reveals he hasn’t signed with LIV for 2026: ‘Everything depends’

Former Masters champion Patrick Reed secured a statement win on Sunday at the 2026 Dubai Desert Classic. But for a long time LIFE Golf the pro made an even bigger statement after his round.

Three weeks before the start of the 2026 LIV Golf season, Reed revealed that he still hasn’t signed to play in the league this year.

But Reed went further, admitting that he’s drawn up an alternate plan for this season if he doesn’t sign with LIV.

Here’s what you need to know.

Patrick Reed’s shocking acceptance of the LIV contract

Reed finished his first start of the new year in style on Sunday, closing with a final-round 72 to seal a four-stroke victory at the Dubai Desert Classic. It was the fourth DP World Tour-sanctioned win of Reed’s career, and perhaps his biggest since the 2018 Masters.

The former PGA Tour star’s latest win before Sunday came 2025 LIV Golf Dallas tournament last Junewhere Reed triumphed in a four-man playoff to capture his first LIV win.

For Reed, who won nine PGA Tour events before heading to LIV Golf in 2022, Sunday’s win is crucial. Unlike his victory at LIV Dallas, his victory in Dubai gave him many points in the world ranking. His OWGR ranking heading into Dubai, 44th, will improve drastically on Monday.

But the most shocking news from Sunday came after Reed’s win. regardless of finishing 7th in the LIV 2025 individual rankingsReed revealed that he has not yet signed a new contract with LIV Golf until 2026.

And the season starts in three weeks in Saudi Arabia.

“We are still finalizing the contract (LIV Golf).

When asked to clarify his statement, Reed confirmed that he is not currently signed with LIV and although he expects to do so at LIV’s season opener in Riyadh in the first week of February, he is not on the field as of now.

“Not that I know of. Not right now. It really all depends on everything,” Reed explained. “I mean, I haven’t talked to the team at home or anything like that. But right now, I’m planning to play it up there in Riyadh and I’d be surprised if we’re not.”

Although earlier this week Reed had commented on paying DP World Tour fines for playing LIV events (and his interest in playing the PGA Tour again), he had not accepted the tenuous nature of his contract LIV.

On Sunday, he explained that he forced his LIV status to the back of his mind this week as he tried to focus on winning the tournament.

“And so, it’s just one of those things that, you know, coming in here this week, I knew as soon as Thursday got here, just focus on golf and golf. You know, starting tonight and tomorrow, we’re going to get back to talking and things like that,” Reed said. “But really, the biggest thing for me right now is just going out and playing well this week. I obviously got the win. Then hopefully we can carry that momentum into next week and hopefully race again late Sunday.”

On that note, it was mission accomplished for Reed. But he revealed something else Sunday: He has one eye on the PGA Tour if his LIV contract negotiations go awry.

Reed eyes path to PGA Tour if LIV contract falls through

While Reed seemed confident that his contract with LIV would eventually expire before the start of the season, he is drawing up an alternate plan for the year in case he doesn’t play in LIV.

And that alternate route ends on the PGA Tour.

Reed first revealed that he is not in talks with the PGA Tour “at this time,” then said that if he doesn’t sign with LIV, he will play the DP World Tour in 2026 with the goal of returning to the PGA Tour.

“Keep playing here (on the DP World Tour) and be in the Top 10 and be on the PGA Tour next year,” Reed began, referring to the fact that The top 10 players in the DP World Tour rankings at the end of the season will earn a PGA Tour card for 2027.

“Yeah, I mean, if I didn’t play LIV this year, it would definitely be one of those things where I would be out here playing more in this tournament and trying to secure one of those Top 10 spots and allow myself to get back on the PGA Tour,” Reed continued.

But he also reiterated that as he has been focused on his golf this week, he has not received the latest updates from his team on the LIV contract negotiations.

“It’s just one of those things with contracts and stuff. There’s a lot of language and wording in the contracts and everything, and really, at this point, I mean, I don’t know where it all stands,” Reed said Sunday. “I mean, it could all be done and done. I mean, I haven’t talked to my team the last couple of days. It’s been a weird time, obviously, coming home compared to me being here.”

One thing is certain after his big win in Dubai on Sunday. If Reed really hasn’t signed with LIV yet for this season, his asking price just got a lot higher.