Tag: 2023 Hero Dubai Desert Classic

The final round of the 2023 Hero Dubai Desert Classic was a perfect encapsulation of the week that was at Emirates Golf Club: a battle between Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed.

After an overblown incident on the range earlier in the week where Reed tossed a LIV Golf tee McIlroy’s way, the two found themselves in a duel down the stretch on Monday that lasted until the 72^nd hole.

Reed began the day four shots behind McIlroy but got in the mix thanks to five birdies and an eagle over his first 13 holes. The American made a costly bogey on the par-4 16th but birdied the last to tie McIlroy, who was slow to start, at 18 under. McIlroy made par on his opening eight holes before adding birdies on Nos. 9, 10 and 13. The world No. 1’s lone blemish of the day came on No. 15, but McIlroy rebounded with two clutch birdies on his final two holes to secure the one-shot win at 19 under.

“I think mentally today was probably one of the toughest rounds I’ve ever had to play because it would be really easy to let your emotions get in the way and I just had to really concentrate on focusing on myself,” said McIlroy, who praised his mental strength. “Forget who was up there on the leaderboard, and I did that really, really well.”

Playing the 18th under pressure 💪#HeroDDC | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/JYruu8BKfr

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 30, 2023

“I’m going to enjoy this. This is probably sweeter than it should be or needs to be but I feel like I’ve still got some stuff to work on,” he added. “It’s a great start to the year and a really good foundation to work from.”

The win was McIlroy’s third Dubai Desert Classic title, but it also came with a few career firsts. Now a 15-time winner on the DP World Tour, this week’s victory was not only the first Rolex Series win for McIlroy, but the first time he’s ever won his opening tournament of a new year.

After turning professional in 2007, McIlroy was 0-16 with 12 top-five finishes in his first start of a new year.

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“Just ecstatic that I gave myself an opportunity the first week back out,” said McIlroy. “I definitely feel like there’s tons of room for improvement but it’s a great start to the year.”

McIlroy will tell you he hasn’t had his A-game in the bag by his standards, but the Northern Irishman entered the week on a hot run of form. Dating back to his Tour Championship win in October, McIlroy now hasn’t finished worse than T-4 over his last seven starts.

“I think again the most satisfying thing to me this week is I haven’t had my best, far from it and to be able to win when you don’t have your best, that’s the sort of like Holy Grail of what we are trying to do,” he said.

McIlroy shot rounds of 66-70-65-68 and made just five bogeys in Dubai. If more is to come for the reigning FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai champion, get ready for a wild 2023.

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At first it was a tee, now it’s a tree.

It’s been a tough few days online for Patrick Reed. Social media erupted after he tossed a tee Rory McIlroy’s way on the driving range before this week’s DP World Tour stop at the 2023 Hero Dubai Desert Classic. During Sunday’s third round – early-week weather has forced a Monday finish at Emirates Golf Club – Reed found himself in the spotlight once again after a wayward drive on par-4 17^th hole.

Reed said he was “100 percent certain” his ball had landed in a tree and got stuck. From here he took a drop, scrambled for bogey, then made birdie on the par-5 18^th to sign for a 3-under 69 to reach 11 under for the tournament, four shots off the leader McIlroy.

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A golf coach shared video of the drive on Twitter, which called into question whether or not Reed identified the proper ball. If he wasn’t able to identify his ball in the tree and prove it was stuck, Reed would have been forced to walk back and play his third shot form the tee after taking a stroke-and-distance penalty.

Patrick Reed identifies his ball in left of the 3 trees yet the tv camera clearly shows it going in the right hand tree?? Am I missing something pic.twitter.com/tOr3yTza14

— Michael FarrierTwist (@michaelftwist) January 29, 2023

“I would have gone back to the tee if I wasn’t 100 percent… I got lucky that we were able to look through the binoculars and you have to make sure it’s your ball and how I mark my golf balls is I always put an arrow on the end of my line, because the Pro VI the arrow on the end stop before it so you can see the arrow,” Reed explained to Telegraph Sport. “And you could definitely see and identify the line with the arrow on the end, and the rules official, luckily, was there to reconfirm and check it to make sure it was mine as well.”

“The only other time I’ve ever been in a tree was in Malaysia. Actually there’s a picture of (Sergio Garcia) and I underneath (caddie Kessler Karain). He’s up literally in the palm tree looking at my golf ball,” Reed added. “You know what, I hit that tee shot, I didn’t even see those palms. I felt like it was on a good line, just left of the green and I guess I just need to be a little more right or a little higher.”

“During round three of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, two on-course referees and several marshals identified that Patrick Reed’s ball had become lodged in a specific tree following his tee shot on 17,” said the DP World Tour via a statement. “The DP World Tour chief referee joined the player in the area and asked him to identify his distinctive ball markings. Using binoculars, the chief referee was satisfied that a ball with those markings was lodged in the tree. The player subsequently took an unplayable penalty drop (Rule 19.2c) at the point directly below the ball on the ground. To clarify, the player was not asked to specify the tree but to identify his distinctive ball markings to confirm it was his ball.”

Almost two years ago to the day, Reed was the center of attention for a rules incident at the Farmers Insurance Open, which followed a two-stroke penalty at the 2019 Hero World Challenge.

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