Patrick Reed reveals "small victory" over Rory McIlroy in hotel after teegate

Patrick Reed has revealed he had a "small victory" after seeing Rory McIlroy in the hotel after their range incident in Dubai went viral.

Ben Smith

27 Jan 2023

Patrick Reed reveals "small victory" over Rory McIlroy in hotel after teegate — Patrick Reed reveals "small victory" over Rory McIlroy in hotel after…

LIV Golf League player Patrick Reed says he'll "take it as a small victory" that Rory McIlroy informed the American of a weather delay at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic moments after the Northern Irishman told his side of the story about teegate.

Social media was set ablaze after news broke about an exchange the American had with McIlroy on the range at the DP World Tour event.

It was first reported that the 32-year-old had thrown tee at McIlroy. We were already dreaming of WWE commentary being dubbed over the footage.

But what actually transpired was Reed gently flicking a LIV-branded 4 Aces GC tee in the direction of the four-time major champ after he was blanked.

McIlroy was too interested in his TrackMan and although he revealed what was reported was "a storm in a teacup", he did confirm that he didn't really want to acknowledge Reed.

He accused Captain America of not living in reality.

That was after revealing he was delivered a court summons on Christmas Eve by the American's legal team. "You're not gonna take that well," said McIlroy.

To be clear, Reed is not suing McIlroy. His lawyer Larry Klayman is suing the PGA Tour and the documents related to that.

Reed is, however, suing several members of the golf media, alleging defamation.

I mean, just look at his facial expressions when he was asked if he would potentially look to build bridges with the 2019 Masters champion.

Both Reed and McIlroy made good starts to the tournament, setting up the tantalising prospect of the players being paired together over the weekend.

Reed told Irish Golfer after carding a 6-under 66 at Emirates GC that everything has been "blown out of proportion."

He saw McIlroy at the hotel later in the day.

Reed explained:

"So, I get myself ready, and then a while later, I'm standing out in front of the hotel with my caddy and my coach, and we're saying, 'Where's the car?'"

"It's now about 10 minutes late, and the next thing you know, Rory gets out of his courtesy car, as he's also staying at the same hotel, and he says, 'Hey, just to let you know, we're not playing, as they've suspended the start of play.'

"He's also saying, 'We're off the golf course, buddy. We're off the golf course.'

"So, I say, 'OK, thanks for that,' and head back to my room and go back to bed. I'm not sure if Rory was acknowledging me, my coach, my caddy or all three of us, but whatever, I'll take it as a small victory."

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An absolute melee!! pic.twitter.com/kCaI5UnHrD
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) January 25, 2023

Asked about the McIlroy incident, Reed added:

"It's been blown out of proportion and once the golf starts it's nice that we can all just focus on the birdies and the bogeys and not all the rest of the nonsense."

McIlroy eventually finished his opening round with an extraordinary 45-minute spell. The Northern Irishman went birdie-eagle-birdie to vault up the leaderboard in Dubai.

The tour pros thoroughly enjoyed "teegate". Justin Thomas joked about the "dangerous" incident.

Next page: Patrick Reed "burner" goes after Sir Nick Faldo