McIlroy on Reed: “I'm living in reality; I don't know where he's living”

Rory McIlroy. Picture: Getty Images

RORY MCILROY confessed he was "mentally and physically drained" after spending much of last year acting as a spokesman for golf's status quo in its battle with LIV Golf.

He's hoping most of the "heavy lifting" is now done in terms of coming up with a product that will make LIV less attractive to potential defectors. But whether the distractions abate looks doubtful on the evidence of his fraught interaction with Patrick Reed in Dubai.

While he's had two months off ahead of his bid for a third Hero Dubai Desert Classic victory, the world number one found himself justifying his decision to blank Reed on the range earlier this week and admitting he will continue to blank former Ryder Cup partner Sergio Garcia, another LIV defector.

Reed approached McIlroy to impart New Year wishes but was studiously ignored and reacted by flicking a LIV Golf branded tee in McIlroy's direction.

"Yeah, I was subpoenaed by his lawyer on Christmas Eve," McIlroy said of his reason for not giving Reed the time of day. "So, of course, trying to have a nice time with my family and someone shows up on your doorstep and delivers that, you're not going to take that well.

"So again, I'm living in reality; I don't know where he's living. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't expect a hello or a handshake."

McIlroy described the incident as "a storm in a teacup", but he couldn't resist another swipe at one the most litigious of all the LIV Golf rebels.

"I didn't see it. I was down by my bag, and he came up to me, and I was busy working and sort of doing my practice, and I didn't really feel like - I didn't feel the need to acknowledge him," McIlroy said of the incident. "So I didn't see a tee coming my direction at all, but apparently, that's what happened. And if roles were reversed and I'd have of thrown that tee at him, I'd be expecting a lawsuit from him."

Reed (32) admitted flicking a Four Aces tee at McIlroy and had no problem labelling the Holywood star (33) an "immature little child", which certainly sets up an intriguing Masters should we get a rematch of their 2018 final group pairing.

"Because of the relationship I've had with Rory—let's be honest, we've had some great battles at Augusta and other tournaments, and our friendship's been pretty good up until obviously joining LIV," Reed told Golf Monthly.

"I walked over there and wished Harry' Happy New Year' and then Rory because it is the first time I have seen them. Harry shook my hand and Rory just looked down there and was messing with his Trackman and kind of decided to ignore us.

"We all know where it came from, being part of LIV. Since my tees are Team Aces LIV tees, I flicked him one.

"It was kind of a funny shot back. Funny how a small little flick has turned into basically me stabbing him and throwing a tee at him."

Reed added: "He saw me and he decided not to react. But it is one of those things. If you're going to act like an immature little child, then you might as well be treated like one."

In terms of LIV Golf and the PGA Tour's response, McIlroy hopes "this year it won't be quite as taxing."

But he's clearly taking no prisoners and when asked if he was prepared to mend bridges with Garcia in the unlikely event the Spaniard forms part of the Ryder Cup team, he had just one word to say — "No."

Like Tiger Woods, he's called for LIV Golf to jettison Greg Norman as CEO in the interest of some sort of ceasefire. But while Norman is still there, McIlroy sees him as a weaker figure following the recent departure of some leading LIV executives.

"If the Chief Executive doesn't have an executive team, I don't know how strong that is," McIlroy said. "I mean, he can't do it himself. He needs to rely on a team just like all of us rely on teams, right, to do things. You know, you sort of operating in a silo, it starts to get pretty difficult."

McIlroy is expected to challenge strongly for his fifth major win this season after an eight-year drought, but even if he wins this week, he will be deposed as world number one if the plethoric Jon Rahm wins for the fifth time in seven starts at the Farmers Insurance Open, which started at Torrey Pines last night.

"It's unbelievable for Europe's Ryder Cup chances," he said of Rahm's hot form and the recent Hero Cup match. "Like we all know Jon is one of the best players in the world. Whether there's a 1 beside his name or a 2 beside his name, it doesn't really matter."

While it's a big week for Shane Lowry, Pádraig Harrington and rookie Tom McKibbin after their performances in Abu Dhabi, McIlroy wants to win his third Dubai Desert Classic after a watery 72nd-hole bogey allowed Viktor Hovland to hoist the silver dallah last year.

"It wasn't quite the way I wanted to finish it off," McIlroy said. "But I went on from that week and played really well and had a great year.

"It's been nice to try to take a little bit of time away, and try to sort of distance myself from the game of golf for at least a month or two, and sort of recharge and reset and try to start 2023 with renewed optimism and a sort of full tank and ready to go.

"I'm sure there will be a little bit of rust to start the week, but hopefully I can shake that off. I've got a great record here, so I have great confidence in that."