In the closing months of this year, Rory McIlroy is trying to make DP World Tour history. His longtime on-course nemesis Patrick Reed is aiming to rain on Rory’s parade.
And if Reed is successful, he will make some history of his own.
The DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai, formerly known as the Order of Merit, is a season-long points ranking much like the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour. McIlroy has captured seven of those titles in his career so far.
That is one short of the all-time record of eight held by Colin Montgomerie.
McIlroy has been on a tear in recent years, capturing the Race to Dubai title four seasons in a row. But as he makes his first attempt to equal Montgomerie’s all-time record this year, he has a major problem with only a few events left: Reed is ahead of him in the standings.
And while Reed is primarily an American-based pro, he has plenty of reasons to covet one of Europe’s highest golfing honors.
Patrick Reed could become 2nd American to win Race to Dubai
Before joining LIV Golf, Reed was a mainstay on the PGA Tour. Despite that, Reed regularly traveled abroad to play on the DP World Tour, earning an honorary life membership in 2019.
In February of this year, Reed announced he was leaving LIV. Facing a suspension on the PGA Tour, Reed turned his talents to the DP World Tour full-time. One hope for Reed was to finish in the top 10 in the Race to Dubai standings, which would earn him a PGA Tour card for 2027.
Quickly, though, Reed showed that he was aiming for a much higher ranking. He won the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in late January, then added another victory at the Qatar Masters in early February.
Strong finishes at the Masters (T12) and the PGA Championship (T10) added to Reed’s points haul. Now with the season winding down, Reed is in first place in the Race to Dubai.
Should he win, it would be only the second time an American has captured the title, following Collin Morikawa’s victory in 2022.
After a strong opening-round 68 at this week’s BMW PGA Championship, Reed confirmed just how much a Race to Dubai title would mean to him.
“It would mean a lot,” Reed said on Thursday. “I’ve always prided myself as being an American that consistently comes over and shows support to this tour. But to also be able to go ahead, Race to Dubai, a win would mean a lot.”
While he admitted that the season-long race is on his mind at Wentworth this week, he said he’s focused on taking it one day at a time.
“It’s definitely in the back of my mind, but at the end of the day just go out there and take care of business each and every day,” Reed said. “And hopefully we play late enough on Sundays coming in that we’re able to kind of cap that off at the end.”
McIlroy on trailing Race to Dubai: ‘It doesn’t matter who’s up there’
McIlroy spoke to his chance at history during his pre-tournament BMW PGA press conference on Tuesday.
“Obviously I’m in a very fortunate position, I guess, to be going for an eighth Race to Dubai,” McIlroy said. “I can’t believe I’m sitting here with seven. So, yeah, I’d love to give myself a chance again.”
He continued: “I’m certainly motivated to play well for the rest of the year. Still working on some things in my swing, so just trying to have a balance between still keeping an eye on that but trying to play my best golf and give myself some chances to win.”
McIlroy also noted to reporters that he’s aware Reed extended his points lead at last week’s Irish Open, where Reed finished T2 to McIlroy’s T41. But he also said that being in second is motivation to play well in and of itself, no matter who the player in front of him is.
“It doesn’t matter who’s up there. I think being second right now and being a little ways off first, that’s motivation enough to try to finish the year off well,” McIlroy said.
As for competing against McIlroy, Reed had only good things to say on Thursday, despite the two players’ history of animosity at the Ryder Cup and beyond.
“Any time I get to go play against Rory, it’s always fun because that means you get to play some amazing golf. With his record and just kind of his resume that he has, he’s a champion,” Reed said of McIlroy. “He’s been a champion a ton of times and he’s one of those guys that if you go up against the best, you’re going to have to take him and Scottie on. To have the opportunity to take him on throughout the whole rest of the year is going to be fun and looking forward to it.”
Some pros have voiced concerns over the final two events of the season, the Abu Dhabi Championship and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, due to security concerns stemming from the Iran war.
If those tournaments end up being canceled, McIlroy will have fewer opportunities to overtake Reed.
