Patrick Reed knows the road back to the PGA Tour. On Sunday in Bahrain, he took another big step toward returning.
Last Sunday, the 2018 Masters champion won the DP World Tour’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic and revealed he was not currently under contract with LIV Golf. Three days later, Reed announced that he was leaving LIV Golf and looking forward to returning to the PGA Tour after serving a one-year suspension from the date of his last LIV start, which came in August.
Once he is able to reinstate his membership on Jan. 1 2027, Reed will have past champions status, but he can earn full playing privileges by finishing among the DP World Tour’s 10 highest non-PGA Tour members at season’s end. Reed announced he planned to use the DP World Tour path to gain entry back to the PGA Tour.
“I’m really excited to be out here playing on the DP World Tour,” Reed said after his first round in Bahrain. “Really excited to get back to the PGA Tour and start playing close to home.”
That win in Dubai vaulted him to No. 2 on the Race to Dubai points list, and he arrived in Bahrain for the Bahrain Championship looking to add to his ledger.
After a shaky opening round, Reed played his next 36 holes in nine under to enter Sunday just four shots behind leader Calum Hill. Reed said he’d rely on “hunter” energy on Sunday to track down Hill, and he did just that by playing his first 14 holes in six under to tie Hill and Freddy Schott for the lead. Reed dropped a shot on No. 16, but steered it into the clubhouse to post 17 under.
Reed was one behind Schott and Hill when he finished, but both dropped a shot on the way in to set up a three-man playoff.
However, Reed bogeyed the first playoff hole and had to settle for a T2 finish as Schott went on to beat Hill on the second playoff hole to clinch his first-career DP World Tour title.
Despite the loss, Reed’s T2 finish bolstered his standing in the Race to Dubai rankings. Reed remains No. 2 on the points list but is now just 67 points behind Jayden Schaper, who won twice during the winter.
Reed accepted the penalty given to him by the PGA Tour. He did not meet the criteria for the “Returning Members Program,” which allowed Brooks Koepka to come back without serving a suspension. He’s fine with that because he knows the path back to the Tour he once left.
After two starts in the Middle East, Reed is already far down the path and, as long as his steady play continues, he should find himself holding a PGA Tour member card again come. November.
