Patrick Reed’s victory in Dubai brought an extra bonus

Last year, Patrick Reed went to Macau to get his ticket for the Open Championship.

Now that his five-year major championship exemption from his 2018 Masters victory has expired, Reed has pursued every avenue possible to still play in the four majors while a member of LIV Golf. He missed the US Open and the 2024 Open Championship, but punched his ticket to all four in 2025 thanks to a second-place finish at the International Series Macau.

Things might be easier for Reed in 2026 after he held off David Puig to win the DP World Tour’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday.

With the win, Reed’s first DP World Tour win since winning the co-sanctioned WGC-Mexico Championship in 2020, he is expected to rise to No. 29 in the Official World Golf Rankings, according to OWGR teacher Nosferatu.

Reed is exempt from the Masters for life, but must qualify (or be exempt) from the other three. The PGA Championship normally offers special exemptions to players in the top 100 of the OWGR who are not already exempt. The US Open’s OWGR cut-off is for the top 50 in the OWGR, while the Open’s is for the top 60. Both the R&A and USGA also added an LIV exemption last year, given to the player in the top three of the individual rankings who is already exempt.

Now ranked in the top 30 in the world – and with LIV potentially getting OWGR points this year – Reed’s path to the three majors outside of Augusta National seems easier than in recent years. The win in Dubai should allow him to gain places 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 the majors in 2025 and is expected to follow a similar schedule this season. He will play in Bahrain next weekend. All that should give him a good chance of securing spots at Aronimink, Shinnecock Hills and Royal Birkdale.

“It’s always fun to lock down the majors,” Reed said after the win. “I mean, every time you go on and win, it’s special. It means a lot.

“29?” Reed said when informed of his OWGR jump. “To be a guy who has earned my world ranking points here in the majors, to sit there and have played as few events as possible to be in the Top 30 is something that shows that my golf game is still where I want it to be. Hopefully this is a springboard for me to have a really solid year this year.”

All thanks to a steady performance in Dubai, where Reed jumped to a four-shot lead through 54 holes, with LIV compatriot David Puig the only one within shouting distance entering the final round.

But Reed played conservatively to start Sunday’s final round and watched Puig make it two on the turn. That’s when Reed’s caddy Kessler Karain kicked him.

“Instead of just staying on the gas pedal early, I tried to protect that lead,” Reed said. “Even Kess said, ‘Hey, it’s a dogfight now. Let’s go now. Go shoot under par on the back nine, no one’s going to beat you.’ “

Reed birdied No. 13 and Puig limped home, allowing Reed to cruise to a four-shot win over Andy Sullivan.

Reed’s victory in Dubai also earned him a $1.5 million winner’s check, which the 2018 Masters champion said he can use to cover the fines he will receive 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 just play and play and [if it] cost me this, whatever, I’m going to play. Play well and it will compensate,” Reed told reporters in Dubai on Friday via Golf Digest Evin Priester.

“Go ahead and win early [in the season] and that will take care of it,” Reed later added, noting he would have to make at least $1 million on the DP World Tour to break even.

Reed’s win comes a week after his told The Telegraph that the PGA Tour’s new “Returning Member Program” is something he would consider if he were eligible. Reed called the PGA Tour the “best in the world” and reiterated his stance this week that he would consider returning if the criteria – which currently only covers major champions and player winners from 2022 to 2025 – were ever expanded to include him.

“I’ve always enjoyed being on the PGA Tour, and if that opportunity ever presents itself, you know, it’ll be a decision,” Reed said. “But at the moment that decision hasn’t been made yet. For me, at the moment I’m just playing here and my schedule is set, which has everything planned for the future. The plan is for me to go to LIV in Riyadh in two weeks and finish it. That was the plan all along. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

For now, that’s Patrick Reed’s plan. And after a win in Dubai, his path to the majors in 2026 should be a lot smoother than the past two years.