‘No lawsuits anymore’: Patrick Reed has earned Rory McIlroy’s ‘respect’ post-LIV exit

Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed have been rivals for over a decade, both on and off the golf course. The emergence of LIV Golf, Reed’s decision to defect to the rebel league, and the subsequent litigation only heightened the tension between the six-time major champion and Reed.

But those tensions seem to be thawing. Reed left LIV Golf in January, accepted a one-year PGA Tour suspension and worked to play his way back to the American circuit by finishing in the top 10 in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai standings. Reed won in Dubai and Qatar earlier this year, all but securing his return to the PGA Tour in 2027. Reed’s willingness to take his punishment and trust himself to shoot the scores needed to return to the PGA Tour has earned respect from McIlroy.

“There’s no lawsuits anymore, so that helps,” McIlroy joked with reporters after his first round of the DP World India Championship on Thursday about his thawing relationship with Reed. “I think the way Patrick has conducted himself this year, but also just how this is the route that he’s taken, and he’s put his head down, and he’s played the golf, and he’s let his clubs do the talking. Patrick and I have had some really good battles over the years, and I respect him as a competitor, but I think it’s meant a lot to this tour that he’s done it the way he’s done it, and I think to his peers as well. To show that character that he’s come, and ultimately he wanted to get back to the PGA Tour, and he’s done it the right way, and that speaks a lot about who he is, and sort of who he’s maybe evolved into, and that’s a great thing.”

Reed and McIlroy had an epic duel at the 2016 Ryder Cup, where Reed beat McIlroy in singles. After that, the two seemed to have a good relationship. McIlroy even went out of his way to defend Reed at points when Reed found himself in the spotlight for various unfortunate reasons. But bad blood between McIlroy and Reed started when golf’s civil war broke out and reached a boiling point in late 2022/early 2023, when Reed’s lawyer, Larry Klayman, served McIlroy a subpoena. The subpoena was for Klayman’s defamation lawsuit against the PGA Tour, not for one of Reed’s personal lawsuits. But Reed was suing a lot of people at the time, so it’s easy to see how that got lost in the legal translation. At the Dubai Desert Classic in January of 2023, Reed went up to shake McIlroy’s hand on the driving range. McIlroy ignored him and Reed flicked a LIV Golf tee in his direction. A day later, McIlroy explained that he was served that subpoena on Christmas Eve.

“I was subpoenaed by his lawyer on Christmas Eve,” McIlroy said at the time. “So of course, trying to have a nice time with my family and someone shows up on your doorstep and delivers that, you’re not going to take that well. So again, I’m living in reality, I don’t know where he’s living. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t expect a hello or a handshake.”

Reed called McIlroy an “immature little child” in response to the handshake stiff.

More than three years removed from tee-flick-gate, the world of pro golf looks very different. LIV Golf is sinking in bankruptcy court, McIlroy is ready to welcome the defectors back, and Reed has earned his way back to the PGA Tour via the DP World Tour, where he is currently first in the Race to Dubai standings as McIlroy guns for his record-tying eighth Race to Dubai title.

All that has led to Reed and McIlroy’s relationship looking different as the pro golf world starts to come back together.

“I feel like the relationship’s getting better. It’s just kind of one of those things. I mean, with me joining LIV, it rubbed some people the wrong way, right?” Reed told The Mirror in India this week. “I mean, any players that joined LIV, you know, people are going to handle it a different way, one way or the other. But at the same time, I feel like going out there and just kind of keeping my head down this year and trying to earn my way back and doing my time on [the DP World Tour], going out and earning a spot [on the PGA Tour], earned a lot of respect back from some of the guys.

“I feel like it’s done that with Rory. And, you know, it’s one of those things that the more I’m around them, the more we spend time with them, obviously, we’ll build that relationship back up. Hopefully, I’m able to play with them a little bit more on Saturdays and Sundays coming in because those are always fun dogfights and great battles out there on the golf course. That’s one of those things that we look forward to.”

McIlroy and Reed have both struggled this week at the Delhi Golf Club, where Eugenio Chacarra leads after two-and-a-half rounds. Chacarra, who is currently second in the Race to Dubai standings, is in line to overtake Reed for the top spot and become the man both Reed and McIlroy are chasing as the DP World Tour heads toward its finale.