Rory McIlroy insists he did not feel the need to acknowledge Patrick Reed after an incident on the range at the Dubai Desert Classic.
According to a report on Spanish website ten-golf.com, Reed threw a tee towards McIlroy after being snubbed by the world number one.
Asked what had happened in his pre-tournament press conference, McIlroy said: “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.
“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 thrown that tee at him, I’d be expecting a lawsuit.”
That was a reference to the legal action Reed is taking on several fronts following his decision to join the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series.
The former Masters champion is one of 13 players involved in an arbitration case with the DP World Tour over sanctions imposed for playing the first LIV event last June and has also launched a defamation lawsuit against several media members and organisations.
The lawyer representing Reed in that case also subpoenaed McIlroy and Tiger Woods in regards to the players-only meeting that was held prior to the BMW Championship in August.
The subpoenas are part of a civil lawsuit filed in June by Larry Klayman which claims that Florida residents who bought tickets to PGA Tour events, or would in future, were damaged by the PGA Tour allegedly weakening fields by suspending players who joined LIV.
Asked if it was naive of Reed to expect a warm welcome given the circumstances, McIlroy told Sky Sports: “I was subpoenaed by his lawyer on Christmas Eve.
“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.
“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 also ruled out the possibility of repairing his previously close relationship with another LIV player, Sergio Garcia, and dismissed claims that LIV CEO Greg Norman’s position had been strengthened by Majed Al Sorour reportedly stepping down as managing director.
“If the chief executive doesn’t have an executive team, I don’t know how strong that is,” said McIlroy, whose call for Norman to step down to allow a settlement in golf’s civil war to be negotiated has been echoed by Tiger Woods.
“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.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here