Patrick Reed leads in Dubai, chases Euro Tour money title

Patrick Reed has been one of the few American stars willing to travel the world in pursuit of trophies and the spoils that come with it.

The European Tour member is playing in Dubai this week and is halfway home to becoming the first American to claim the Vardon Trophy and finish the season as Europe’s leading money-winner.

Reed, who entered the week as the Race to Dubai leader, carded nine birdies en route to signing for the low round of the week, a 64 at the Earth Course at Jumeriah Golf Estates. He improved to 10-under 134 and built a two-shot advantage over England’s Matt Fitzpatrick at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

“Today, I got off to a little better start than I did yesterday,” Reed said. “The putter was working. Yesterday, I felt like I did a lot of things pretty well, but the putts weren’t really falling. I burned a couple edges and a couple of iron shots weren’t as close as they needed to be. Today, I tightened it all up. I was able to hit the ball a little closer to the hole, which gave me more opportunities. And I was seeing the lines a little better too.”

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Reed credited recent swing changes he has made for his improved ball striking.

“It just feels a little bit more controllable,” he said. “It feels as if I don’t have as big a curves going on irons and stuff, and because of that I feel like whether it’s a right flag or left flag, I can aim closer to the hole rather than trying to aim farther away and trying to sling it in there. For me it’s more of a comfort thing as well as just a consistency thing.”

Reed still has plenty of work to do to make history in the desert. Twelve golfers are within six strokes of the lead at the midway point of the tournament, though Reed said he’s focused simply on his game.

The Race to Dubai Trophy is seen in the foreground as Patrick Reed walks behind it on his way to the first tee during Day Two of the 2020 DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

“I obviously know where I stand going into the week. I know that if I win the golf tournament or finish second alone that, unless there’s one or two guys that win the golf tournament, I end up winning the Race to Dubai,” he said.

“Really, the way I’m looking at it is everyone is starting at zero, trying to go out and win the golf tournament, and if you take care of business and win the golf tournament, then the Race to Dubai will take care of itself.”

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