Why is Patrick Reed allowed to play on the DP World Tour this week?

Matt Chivers

Patrick Reed is down to play in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic this week but you might be scratching your head at this given LIV Golf players have previously been fined and suspended by the DP World Tour…

Occasionally, we find a LIV Golf player popping up in a field on the DP World Tour.

In golf’s current climate, this is rare, given that in April 2023, an arbitration panel ruled in the tour’s favour to allow fines and suspensions to be given to members who joined the LIV Golf League and played in conflicting events without releases.

Patrick Reed was awarded an honorary lifetime membership to the DP World Tour in 2019. In 2025, he played in 10 DP World Tour events.

Reed used these events to surge up the Official World Golf Rankings, but at one stage during his time with LIV, he found himself ranked outside of the top 100, as LIV Golf events still don’t offer world ranking points. He also has a passion for supporting the DP World Tour, as he has made clear in previous seasons.

But why is the 2018 Masters champion and current LIV Golf rebel allowed to play in this week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic, a tournament arranged by a tour that has dished out punishments to members who hopped to the Saudi-funded circuit?

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Why is Patrick Reed on the European Tour?

Although Reed is an honorary lifetime member, a player must be a ranked member to enter tournaments in the normal way. For many of his DP World Tour starts in 2025, Reed played under category 1, which concerns winners of the Race to Dubai Rankings between 2018 and between 2021 and 2025, and the four majors in 2018 and between 2021 and 2026.

He had no outstanding sanctions for participating in LIV Golf events in those weeks, which is what made him eligible to play, too. This is also why he can play this week.

Reed has previously been joined in DP World Tour fields by Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, who appealed their outstanding sanctions with the tour for playing in conflicting LIV Golf events, which meant they could compete and fulfil their membership quotas to keep their cards for 2025 and maintain eligibility for the European Ryder Cup team that headed to Bethpage in September.

The appeal process is still ongoing.

Reed is no stranger to playing in DP World Tour events, far from it. He has been arguably the most notable American presence on the circuit since the year of his first professional win in 2013. He even played on the Challenge Tour in 2012.

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About the author

Matt Chivers

Matt has been playing golf since the age of 13 and was largely inspired to take up the game by countless family members who played golf during his childhood.

Matt is a member at Royal Cinque Ports in Deal playing off a 5 handicap, just a pitching wedge away from his hometown of Dover where he went to school and grew up. He has previously been a member at Etchinghill and Walmer and Kingsdown in Kent.

Having studied history at the University of Liverpool, Matt went on to pass his NCTJ Exams in Manchester a year later to fulfil his lifelong ambition of becoming a journalist. He picked up work experience along the way at places such as the Racing Post, the Independent, Sportsbeat and the Lancashire Evening Post.

Matt joined NCG in February 2023 and is the website’s main source of tour news, features and opinion. He has reported live from events such as the Masters, The Open, the Ryder Cup and The Players Championship, having also interviewed and spoken to many of the biggest names in the sport.

Consuming tour golf on what is a 24/7 basis, you can come to Matt for informed views on the game and the latest updates on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, Ladies European Tour and LIV Golf.

What’s in Matt’s bag: Cleveland HiBore XL Driver driver, Cobra LTDx 3-wood, Benross BR-Pro irons, Ping Glide 4.0 wedges, Odyssey putter.

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