Rory McIlroy wants to win the eighth Race to Dubai title and create history, but Patrick Reed says he will have to wait. Reed and Rory’s rivalry has seen tense Ryder Cup singles matches, a Christmas Eve subpoena, and a thrown tee on a range in Dubai. Now it continues as the two battle it out for the Race to Dubai (R2D) title, where Reed currently has the edge and is not ready to give Rory an inch of space.
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“Just to finish number one would be amazing. I know it’s not gonna be easy because of a guy like Rory right on my tail right now. It’s always fun anytime I get to battle out with Rory. It’s always a blast, and you always have to go out and play solid golf,” said Reed before adding the punchline, saying, “I definitely wouldn’t mind making him wait one more year [to match Colin Montgomerie’s record], but it’s only a matter of time.”
Cue Rory McIlroy in. The World No. 2 is chasing a fifth straight Race to Dubai title and an eighth overall. A win here would not only give him a lead over Reed but also tie him with Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight R2D titles. Both are locked in for the next few tournaments, including a stop in India mid-October. The battle will get more intense, and Reed, in fact, is looking forward to it.
“Any time I get to go play against Rory, it’s always fun because that means you get to play some amazing golf,” said the former Masters champion. “With his record and just kind of his resumé that he has, he’s a champion. To have the opportunity to take him on throughout the whole rest of the year is going to be fun and looking forward to it.”
But what about Rory?
The Ulsterman opened with five birdies in the first 10 holes at Wentworth but cooled off later and signed for 3-under 69. Speaking after the round, McIlroy addressed the R2D battle and Reed’s advantage.
“A lot of points on offer. I didn’t have the greatest week last week, and Patrick played well, so I dropped a little bit further behind him.”
While McIlroy is chasing history to become only the second golfer after Colin Montgomerie to win his eighth Race to Dubai title, there is more at stake for Reed. He is looking to earn a PGA Tour card by finishing at the top of the Race to Dubai Rankings. Alongside that, it carries personal history and honor.
Rory can usurp Reed with a victory at the BMW PGA Championship
Reed has been one of the few American golfers to play in DP World Tour’s flagship events quite regularly. In 2019, he was made an honorary member of the DPWT, and that helped him play in the European Circuit after exiting LIV Golf. He has already won twice this year and finished T2 at the Irish Open.
The BMW PGA Championship offers 8,000 Race to Dubai points, more than any stop besides the finale. Reed arrives at Wentworth with 3,423.62 R2D points in 17 events, already roughly 840 points ahead of Rory McIlroy’s 2,583.86 R2D points in nine events.
Reed has held the top spot in the Race to Dubai standings for 31 weeks straight. His season includes winning titles at the Dubai Desert Classic and Qatar Masters early in the season, then adding a runner-up finish at the Irish Open. Rory, on the other hand, has won the 2026 Masters but hasn’t won since then.
This facet of their rivalry is not new
It started at the 2016 Ryder Cup, where the two clashed in an electric singles match at Hazeltine. It resurfaced hard in 2023 when Reed served McIlroy with a lawsuit-related subpoena on Christmas Eve, then approached him on the range a few weeks later at the Dubai Desert Classic.
McIlroy didn’t respond to Reed’s greetings, and the latter allegedly threw a tee in his direction. The Northern Irishman went on to win that tournament and called it “sweeter than it should be,” in direct reference to the revenge.
At the 2026 Irish Open, Reed finished runner-up to McIlroy’s T41. Now, another glimpse of the chase was much more visible in round one at the BMW PGA Championship. Reed carded a four-under 68 on the West Course, his best putt coming on the par-4 7th, where he rolled a 22-footer for birdie and gained 0.90 strokes in putting.
Meanwhile, McIlroy shot a 69, just one shot back. After teeing off on the back nine, he picked up five birdies on his opening nine holes (holes 10–18) to match the co-leaders. His round began to unravel down the stretch because of wayward tee shots.
He bogeyed the 3rd and 6th before a costly final error on the par-4 8th hole (his 17th of the day), where his ball found the water, leading to a closing bogey. A good week at Wentworth will change the equation dramatically on the Race to Dubai Rankings.