Rory McIlroy or Patrick Reed: Who has more odds to win the Dubai Desert Classic?
The 2023 Dubai Desert Classic will experience a dramatic clash as Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed share the lead after the opening round.
The situation between the two golfers has been tense ever since Reed defected to the controversial LIV Golf series last year. Reed later filed a law suit against the PGA Tour. The equation with Rory worsened when Reed's lawyer sent him a subpoena for being a co-conspirator on Christmas Eve.
Days before the 2023 Dubai Desert Classic began, another controversy hit the headlines when Patrick Reed threw a golf tee at Rory McIlroy after the latter ignored him.
So far on the field, McIlroy and Reed have secured an early lead in the tournament, which suffered several delays due to flooding and rain. However, current World No. 1 Rory McIlroy has better odds to win the title.
The Northern Irish golfer has been in great form since late 2022. On top of that, he must be under tremendous pressure as Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler have threatened to dethrone him from the World No. 1 spot.
Both Reed and McIlroy won't play until Saturday as the tournament is suffering delays due to rainy weather.
"I struggled out there most of yesterday" - Rory McIlroy on his opening round at the 2023 Dubai Desert Classic
Although Rory McIlroy took an early lead in the opening round of the 2023 Dubai Desert Classic, he was not happy with his efforts.
He said:
"Honestly not very good. I struggled out there most of yesterday. I thought I did well to be under par by the end of the day. I fought back after some very sloppy rusty golf over the first sort of 14 holes."
He added that he didn't make enough shots to know if anything clicked or not.
"And then, yeah, today I came out and I don't really know if anything clicked because I don't think I hit enough shots to know. But it was definitely needed. I would have been happy with anything around 70 the way I played, and then to come in and shoot 66 is quite the bonus."
However, his face lit up as the conversation turned towards the eighth hole where he registered an incredible birdie.
"You know, I wouldn't say I'm the best fairway bunker player in the world. The desert is a little nicer, it's a little more packed down, so you get some better lies."
Talking about the brilliant birdie, he said that he would have been happy with around 20 feet, but he was more than delighted when he absolutely nailed the shot.
"All I was thinking about was catching it clean. My tendency out of those lies is to hit it a little bit heavy. As soon as I struck it - went down the grip a little bit just to make sure of the strike - I knew it came out really nicely and it was right down the pin. Again, anything inside of 20 feet, I would have been happy with, so that was certainly a bonus."
It would certainly be beyond thrilling to see Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy to go head-on at the 2023 Dubai Desert Classic. This will surely only be a glimpse before the Masters in April.