No LIV, no problem: Patrick Reed to tee it up in Asian Tour events

With no LIV Golf events on the schedule for the month of August and his pending suspension from the PGA Tour withholding him from the FedEx Cup playoffs, Patrick Reed is taking his talents to Asia.

The Asian Tour announced Reed will play in two events this month: the International Series Singapore, from August 11-14, and International Series Korea the following week.

Reed finished fifth individually this past weekend at the LIV Golf Invitational Bedminster after winning the league’s second event in Portland.

Playing on the Asian Tour, which LIV Golf purchased a controlling stake in last year, could be an avenue for Reed and many other LIV defectors to something the upstart league currently can’t offer: Official World Golf Ranking points.

The former Masters champ has fallen to 46th in the world after starting the year at No. 25. After the Open Championship last month, OWGR guru @nosferatu projected Reed would fall out of the top 100 by the end of the year if he did not play in any more OWGR events.

In golf, the Official World Golf Ranking is the mechanism by which most players earn their spot into the major championships. The ranking does not currently recognize LIV Golf as a sanctioned event, meaning players who compete for the rival league will either be forced to earn their way into the majors by some other means (open qualifying) or sit the majors out altogether.

LIV has applied for world ranking points, but is still awaiting a decision from the OWGR. The Asian Tour, which has been sanctioned by the OWGR, already offers them.

Playing back-to-back events should be notable for Reed, as he said in his first LIV press conference at his debut in Portland one of the reasons he was joining the Saudi-backed league was to play less golf.

“You’re not having to conserve energy ever. You’re out there that one week, you’re putting everything into it,” Reed said in June. “I’m able to play harder every single week rather than sit there going I got five weeks coming up in a row or I got four in a row and then you’re leading into a major or World Golf championship.”