Patrick Reed explains reasons behind sudden LIV Golf departure

Patrick Reed feels like a renewed force. The 2018 Masters champion has spent the last four years playing on the LIV Golf Tour having resigned from the PGA Tour in June 2022 before making a turnaround in January of this year and announcing his return to America’s main tour card. He is eligible to return for invitational events from late August this year and on a full-time basis in 2027 due to his past champion status.

Since leaving LIV, Reed has played on the DP World Tour in Europe and has won twice and finished second in three tournaments since the start of the year. As such, he has further secured his PGA Tour return through one of the 10 cards the European league hands out to its top finishers in the Race to Dubai standings though he will still need to wait until the autumn season to begin. His form, plus his previous results at Augusta National, is also a huge factor into why he is being marked as a contender for this week’s first major of the season.

Yet, his press conference on Monday was dominated with questions about his recent past and his possible future. Reed’s departure from LIV was a sudden affair and came without rumour or warning for most people including Reed himself who told the media: “Yeah, it definitely happened quickly. “But it was one of those that, when I was over there in Dubai and playing, I really just kind of was sitting back and realizing that I wanted to get back and not only join—have an opportunity back on the PGA Tour, but get back to the traditional way of golf and playing.

“When I stood there in Dubai, that Saturday the entire range is full, and then guys just start disappearing, and you're the last man on that tee box. Then you're walking to the tee, you're the last name announced, and you've lost the lead because someone is 5-under through 8. All those just rushes and those scenarios, kind of going back into playing golf that way, where you're going out there and you're having the battles between not just yourself, but the other guys on the leaderboard.