Rory McIlroy avoids Patrick Reed showdown but no such luck for Luke Donald!

Rory McIlroy will not be playing alongside Patrick Reed in Dubai but Luke Donald is paired with former Ryder Cup captain and LIV Golf player Henrik Stenson.

Ben Smith

28 Jan 2023

Rory McIlroy avoids Patrick Reed showdown but no such luck for Luke Donald!

Rory McIlroy will not be teeing it up with Patrick Reed in the third round of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour, but Luke Donald will be playing alongside former Ryder Cup Europe captain Henrik Stenson.

Stenson was sacked by Ryder Cup Europe last July after signing a reported $40m deal with the LIV Golf League.

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He insisted that he did not use the captaincy to try and bolster his signing-on fee with the breakaway circuit.

Donald was named as Stenson's successor after the 46-year-old's four-month stint as captain.

The Englishman later chided the 2016 Open winner by saying he wouldn't be "doing a Henrik".

Stenson returned to the DP World Tour at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship earlier this month.

Donald predicted that he could've faced an awkward week.

For his part, Stenson insisted he had no regrets over signing for LIV Golf.

He also revealed he was quietly confident the "rebels" will prevail in the legal showdown next month.

A sports arbitrator will determine whether the European-based circuit has the legal power to ban players who have joined the tour commissioned by Greg Norman.

Donald will be playing with Stenson and Tyrrell Hatton in round three of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates GC in the 8.15am tee time.

McIlroy is playing alongside one LIV Golfer, though it's not the one fans would've liked to see. He's grouped with Bernd Wiesberger and Dan Bradbury.

Reed is in the 11.31am tee time with Matt Wallace and Julien Brun.

If the @rydercup is mentioned in my group tomorrow morning https://t.co/MN1ABmmyCF
— Tyrrell Hatton (@TyrrellHatton) January 28, 2023

What's happening in the tournament?

McIlroy enters the final 36 holes two strokes behind the leaders.

Another LIV player, Richard Bland, shares a three-way tie for the lead with Thomas Pieters and the impressive amateur Michael Thorbjornsen.

What did Stenson say?

Stenson hasn't ruled out automatically qualifying for the 2023 Ryder Cup.

That's if he isn't banned.

He told the media:

"I'll be watching the arbitration case with interest. I'm not going to guess on the result. But it will be interesting to see what comes after it. I still want to play on this tour. In my mind, nothing has changed from when I started playing on multiple tours.

"If I go out and win the Open Championship again and do well elsewhere, I might qualify. It's not impossible. And it would certainly be the irony of ironies. But until we know exactly what is happening, no one can say what the situation is going to be. I'm not a guy who wants to guess."

Next page: Reed reveals "small victory" over Rory McIlroy