Patrick Reed arrives at Augusta National as one of the game’s hottest players, having won twice on the DP World Tour while adding a T-2 finish. Few venues suit his game better; since claiming the green jacket in 2018, he has finished T-12 or better five times, including a third-place showing last spring. Reed should very much factor into this week’s proceedings. But it is his future—and his recent past—that commanded the conversation Monday.

Two months ago, Reed left LIV Golf with a singular goal: return to the PGA Tour. He secured that return through his hot streak on the DP World Tour, securing one of the 10 cards the European league hands out to its top finishers in the Race to Dubai standings. Yet unlike fellow defector Brooks Koepka, whose departure from LIV had been rumoured for some time, Reed’s decision came without warning. Speaking from the Augusta National press building Monday, he explained what went into it, and when.

“Yeah, it definitely happened quickly,” Reed said, “but it was one of those that, when I was over there in Dubai and playing, I really just kind of was sitting back and realizing that I wanted to get back and not only join—have an opportunity back on the PGA Tour, but get back to the traditional way of golf and playing.

“When I stood there in Dubai, that Saturday the entire range is full, and then guys just start disappearing, and you’re the last man on that tee box. Then you’re walking to the tee, you’re the last name announced, and you’ve lost the lead because someone is 5-under through 8. All those just rushes and those scenarios, kind of going back into playing golf that way, where you’re going out there and you’re having the battles between not just yourself, but the other guys on the leaderboard. For me, I wanted that back, I wanted that adrenaline back, and those feelings, especially with the way I played those last three weeks.”

Reed said the timing was fortuitous; though LIV’s new season was scheduled to start, he had not signed his new deal, technically making him a free agent. He mentioned wanting to test his game on the “best tour in the world.”

“I’ve played on every single one of them,” Reed said. “It’s one of those that from top to bottom that’s the place that I feel like is best for us to go and compete against the top guys year in and year out, week in and week out.”

However, it’s not just about competition. Reed also asserted LIV’s international schedule was keeping him from spending as much time with family as he would have liked. “My daughter is now eleven; little man’s eight. It seems like time has flown. I definitely want to watch them grow up and be home a little bit more, yet still at the same time to play against the best guys,” Reed said. “To be honest with you, it was one of those decisions that I felt like was the best, not just for the golf game, but also for my family to spend more time with them. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it obviously being at home and spending time with the kiddos and my wife.”

Reed finished by saying he enjoyed his team on LIV, especially with his team. He clarified that there was no hard feelings between himself and former employer. “Yeah, there’s nothing that I felt like was going on between LIV and us or anything like that. Like I said, we had a contract, had a deal, but at the end of the day, I felt like the best thing for us was to come to the PGA Tour again.”

Because he is facing a year suspension from his last LIV Golf appearance, Reed is not eligible to return to the PGA Tour until its fall season. For now, that means more starts on the DP World Tour. “Those travels overseas, it’s going to be a lot this year,” Reed said, “but at the same time, I can’t wait to obviously go out there and compete, but at the same time, come home and see the family.”

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

Main Image: Getty Images

The post Masters 2026: Patrick Reed explained why he left LIV Golf to return to the PGA Tour appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Patrick Reed is a true golfer of the world.

It’s why he’s in the Middle East to kick off his 2026 season with three DP World Tour events before the LIV Golf season starts next month. That globetrotting commitment to both the DP World and Asian tours is why he’s still ranked No. 41 in the world, despite LIV not receiving Official World Golf Ranking points.

Earlier this month, the 2018 Masters champion was enjoying a well-earned rest following his 32-event 2025 season when news broke that fellow LIV golfer Brooks Koepka was going back to the PGA Tour via the newly established Returning Member Program. The plan was created for LIV players who have not been a PGA Tour member for two years and who have won the Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, Open Championship or Players Championship from 2022-2025. Only Koepka, Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm were eligible, and the latter three said last week they would continue to play on LIV.

Reed, who has played on LIV since its 2022 inaugural season and has one individual victory in 45 total starts, didn’t have the ability to consider the opportunity, but at the Dubai Invitational on Saturday, he was asked, hypothetically, if he would think about returning. “I mean, of course; if it were up to me, I’d play everywhere,” Reed said.

He does play everywhere. In 2025, the Texan teed up in 14 LIV events, four majors, 10 DP World Tour tournaments and four Asian Tour stops. “I’m already playing on three tours, why not add one more?” he added with a laugh. “I always enjoyed my time out there on the PGA Tour. Let’s be honest, out there, it’s the best tour in the world. Look at what they’ve done in golf … I could see myself playing there at some point again. But right now, you just never know; everything’s so fluid.”

Since donning the green jacket in 2018, Reed, 35, has been a regular feature in majors. He was fourth at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock immediately after his Masters victory and 10th at the 2019 Open Championship. He logged top-10s at Augusta National in 2020 and 2021 before becoming a serious Masters contender again. Reed finished T-4 in 2023 and T-3 last year, where he was genuinely in the hunt on the back nine on Sunday.

Despite that form in golf’s four biggest events recently, Reed is not eligible for the Returning Member Program, given it rewards major victories after LIV debuted in 2022.

“Right now, it’s not even a decision,” Reed said. “That was for ’22 and on winners. So, I definitely would have to think about it … if that number [came] down to 2018. Right now, it’s hard to say really what we’re going to do or anything like that. Right now, the biggest thing is trying to play some good golf these [two] weeks, not only to solidify myself out here on DP, but to have a good momentum going into the year.”

Reed, a nine-time PGA Tour winner, was given honorary life membership on the DP World Tour in 2019 due to his staunch support of the European circuit. His commitment will run even deeper this year when he is likely to be paying fines for each LIV event he plays that conflicts with a DP World Tour tournament. The amount of each fine is not known.

As reported by The Telegraph, LIV Golf has paid fines in the past on behalf of its players but will no longer do so in 2026. That won’t stop Reed though, although he says he’d “love for it to be resolved.”

“I always plan on showing my support on this tour and it’s not going to stop me,” Reed said. “Starting this year, any fines or anything like that will go on the players, not on LIV. Right now, playing [these three] DP World Tour events [before the LIV season starts Feb. 4], I’m not getting fined.

“Me travelling and playing around the world … it helps this tour, but also it’s something I’ve always held true to my heart and wanted to do. So, if that’s what it takes [paying the fines], that’s what it takes.

For one reason.

“I’ve always wanted to be a worldwide player,” he said.

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

Main Image: Sam Hodde

The post Patrick Reed calls PGA Tour the ‘best in the world,’ says he’d consider returning if given the chance appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

.@PReedGolf wins for the first time on LIV Golf and in his home state of Texas #LIVGolfDallas @4AcesGC_ pic.twitter.com/SMYlCdeJ2i

— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) June 29, 2025

“I tried to mess it up,” said Reed, who was playing in his 41st LIV event. “After making birdie on the first I seemed to leave every birdie short. I told myself, ‘hey, the putts have to start falling.’ For the most part I felt like I was hitting the ball fine, I just had a lot of missed putts.”

Here’s a smattering of events that show what a topsy-turvy day it was for the 2018 Masters champ. When Tyrrell Hatton birdied the eighth hole he was tied with Reed. Reed went back up one on the next hole over Hatton and Varner. When Reed bogeyed the eighth hole he was tied with Hatton and Varner. Reed bogeyed Nos. 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9 on the opening stretch. Kozuma birdied three of four holes to come from nowhere and tied Reed at six under at one point. Hatton made birdie at 13 and was tied with Kozuma and Reed. When Casey birdied the 13th he was tied at the top. At one point Hatton, Kozuma and Casey were tied with Reed for the lead. A bogey on the last pushed Hatton out of the eventual playoff. Kozuma birdied the 17th to take a one-shot lead but bogeyed the 18th.

Somehow Reed overcame all of that and found a way to win.

Main Image: Sam Hodde

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

The post Patrick Reed coughs up huge lead in Dallas, rallies with birdie in playoff to earn first LIV title appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.