McIlroy snubs Reed, in no mood to reconcile with LIV Golf defectors
Another battle between Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed began to take shape Wednesday.
As one of the most vocal critics of the LIV Golf breakaway league, McIlroy felt mentally drained at the end of last year and decided to put his clubs away for a few weeks.
“It’s been nice,” the top-ranked McIlroy said, “to try to take a little bit of time away, and try to sort of distance myself from the game of golf.”
Now he’s back and appears to be as fiery as ever.
McIlroy was on the driving range Tuesday at the Dubai Desert Classic when he was approached by Reed, one of the highprofile players to have joined the exodus to the Saudi-backed series that changed the face of golf in 2022.
McIlroy said he was busy practicing and didn’t feel the need to acknowledge Reed.
“Patrick came up to say hello and I didn’t really want him to,” McIlroy said Wednesday.
McIlroy was asked about reports the American threw a tee toward him. The four-time major winner said he didn’t see or feel anything.
“But apparently that’s what happened,” McIlroy said. “And if roles were reversed and I’d have thrown that tee at him, I’d be expecting him [to file] a lawsuit.”
McIlroy said he was served a subpoena on Christmas Eve from Larry Klayman, an attorney who has filed a lawsuit against the PGA Tour and European tour for suspending players who have signed with LIV Golf. Reed is not involved in that lawsuit.
Meanwhile, sSpectators will not be allowed to attend the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic on Thursday because of what organizers have described as “severe weather conditions” forecast at Emirates Golf
Club.
Elsewhere: Sam Ryder, ● Aaron Rai and Brent Grant shared the lead at 8-under par 64 after the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Brendan Steele
was one stroke back. Jon Rahm, ranked No. 3 in the world and trying for his third win in as many starts, struggled to a 1over 73. The tournament runs Wednesday through Saturday to avoid competing against the NFL conference championship games on Sunday. The event is broadcast by
CBS, which also airs the AFC Championship Game.
ETC.
Skiing: Mikaela Shiffrin
● moved past Lindsey Vonn with one American skiing legend eclipsing another by notching the 83rd World Cup race win of her unprecedented career, setting a record for women’s Alpine racers and taking another step toward the all-time mark for a skier of any gender. Shiffrin won a giant slalom race in the Italian resort of Kronplatz, beating runner-up Lara GutBehrami of Switzerland by 0.45 seconds for her ninth victory of the season. Her total is now one more than that of Vonn, who preceded Shiffrin as the most dominant racer of all time.
Soccer: Manchester
●
United’s Premier League title hopes may be fading, but a first final under Erik ten Hag is now in sight. A 3-0 away win in the first leg of the League Cup semifinals against Nottingham Forest put United in control ahead of the return fixture at Old Trafford next week. Goals from Marcus Rashford, Wout Weghorst and Bruno Fernandes at the City Ground went some way toward easing the disappointment of the late 3-2 loss to Arsenal on Sunday, which dented United’s challenge at the top of the league. Ten Hag, however, has moved a step closer to the club’s first silverware for six years. … Barcelona has defeated 10-man Real Sociedad 1-0 to reach the semifinals of the Copa del Rey. Dembélé scored the winning goal early in the second half as Barcelona defeated 10-man Real Sociedad 1-0 to return to reach the semifinals of the Copa del Reyafter a one-year absence. The result ended a nine-game winning streak for Sociedad, which played a man down from the 40th minute after Brais Méndez was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets. … In Berlin, Gio Reyna again came off the bench to score a late winner for Borussia Dortmund, securing a 2-1 victory at Mainz in the Bundesliga. Reyna also scored Dortmund’s late winner in a 4-3 win against Augsburg on Sunday, and repeated the feat in Mainz after coming on in the second half.