Patrick Reed downplays tee incident with Rory McIlroy, not expecting drama at Masters Champions Dinner
If there’s any drama at the Dinner of Champions in April, it won’t be from Patrick Reed.
At least that’s what he says now.
Reid, who was at the center of a skirmish with Rory McIlroy last month in Dubai, insisted Thursday before the opening of the LIV Golf season in Mexico that The Masters’ annual winner’s dinner would be dedicated exclusively to Scotty Scheffler.
“The fact is, Dinner of Champions has nothing to do with me, or with any other person in this room, except for Scotty Sheffler,” Reed. Golf Digest said. This is his dinner. My experience with these dinners was amazing. We always talk about past experiences in Augusta, how the other guys have won. [Masters]what obstacles they had to overcome, the shots they made in their experience.
“Knowing the guys here on LIV and also some of the older guys… that night and that dinner is all about Scotty and has nothing to do with where one is playing, what happened a week ago, what happens in the future. That’s all about this event. It’s literally Scotty’s night, and it always will be.”
The answer was similar to what Tiger Woods said before the Genesis Invitational last week.
“We as a whole should honor Scotty [Scheffler]. Scotty won, it’s his dinner,” Woods said at the Riviera Country Club. “So you need to make sure that Scotty gets the reward he deserves, and also to realize the nature of what happened and the people who left, exactly where our situations are legal, emotional, there are a lot.”
While Reid’s comments on Thursday sound like he’s holding no grudges, it’s easy to see why fans may have been skeptical about the year’s first major championship given how things went between him and McIlroy at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January.
McIlroy ignored Reed prior to this driving range event, and Reed allegedly teeded at McIlroy afterwards. This came after McIlroy said that Reed’s lawyer had subpoenaed him on Christmas Eve.
“Patrick came over to say hello and I really didn’t want him to,” McIlroy said of the incident. “As far as I remember, that’s how it was. I didn’t see the tee. I didn’t feel the tee. Obviously someone else saw it. But this is definitely a storm in a teacup… His lawyer took me to court on Christmas Eve. So of course, trying to have a good time with my family and someone shows up on your doorstep and delivers it, you don’t take it well.
“So, I live in reality again. I don’t know where he lives. If I were him, I wouldn’t expect a greeting or a handshake.”
However, Reid insists that he is fine with McIlroy, and Sergio Garcia cannot say the same. Reed downplayed Thursday’s incident at the Mayaokba resort.
“The thing is, Dubai exaggerated the proportions like it was something terrible between two players when we stayed at the same hotel and saw each other both times. [we said] ‘Hi, how are you?’ It was okay,” Reid said. via golf digest. “Probably there was some kind of game skill? And perhaps some things happen because of a bunch of other things? Perhaps there is some kind of game skill?
“I have always had full respect for Rory. I’ve always enjoyed the fights I fought against him. I just looked [2016] Highlights of the Ryder Cup [recently] … they are insane. Same thing in Augusta [during Reed’s 2018 Masters victory] when I played him on Sunday…there is nothing better than a player trying to win his first major tournament than playing Rory McIlroy. He was also going to win his career Grand Slam.”
Source: sports.yahoo.com
