WATCH: What happened between Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed
On Tuesday (January 24), during the Hero Dubai Desert Classic Previews, it was reported that Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy had an incident. Reed, who defected to LIV Golf, allegedly went to greet McIlroy and his caddie but was snubbed by the world number one.
In response, Reed turned and walked away and tossed a golf tee at McIlroy. A video has now surfaced showing exactly what happened during the incident.
What was initially thought to be a malicious action turned out to be anything but. It's unclear if Reed even threw something at McIlroy, who was crouched on the ground, but it wasn't an angry throw.
Reed didn't even stand and wait but for a couple of seconds before calmly walking away and turning to gently toss a tee towards the world number one. Perhaps McIlroy needed a tee on the ground, but regardless, this can hardly be construed as an angry action on the part of the LIV Golf star.
McIlroy said he didn't even know a tee was thrown at him. He joked that Reed might have sued him had the incident gone the other way around.
Golf fans reacted to the video, which has been underwhelming to say the least.
One commenter was shocked at how little the video portrayed.
Another believes it was barely even a toss.
One fan was a bit let down.
There's plenty of animosity between LIV and the PGA Tour, but this incident isn't evidence of that.
One fan laughed at the fact that McIlroy actually did snub Reed.
Another joked at the "violent" nature of the incident.
Many fans joked about the severity of the situation.
Most golf fans were shocked at how inconsequential this entire issue was. Patrick Reed barely tossed a tee in the direction of McIlroy, so it's hardly even an issue at all.
Rory McIlroy defends decision to snub Patrick Reed
Despite there being no real incident, the world number one golfer was still not happy with Patrick Reed. According to ESPN, McIlroy said:
"Patrick came up to say hello, and I didn't really want him to. But apparently that's what happened. And if roles were reversed and I'd have thrown that tee at him, I'd be expecting him [to file] a lawsuit."
He continued:
"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."
There is clearly no love lost between the two and their respective tours. For now, the two can mix as there is an ongoing court case to decide whether the PGA Tour can ban LIV players from events like this.
McIlroy would like to see it go one way and Patrick Reed, who recently lost a defamation suit against CNN, would like to see it go his way so he can continue playing these types of events.