Last year, Patrick Reed traveled to Macau to earn a spot in the Open Championship.
With his five-year major championship exemption from his 2018 Masters win expired, Reed pursued every available avenue to compete in the four majors while playing on LIV Golf. He missed the 2024 U.S. Open and Open Championship, but secured entry into all four 2025 majors with a second-place finish at the International Series Macau.
Reed’s path may become easier in 2026 after he defeated David Puig on Sunday to win the DP World Tour’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
This victory, Reed’s first on the DP World Tour since the co-sanctioned WGC-mexico Championship in 2020, projects to lift him to No. 29 in the Official World Golf Rankings, according to OWGR analyst Nosferatu.
Reed has a lifetime exemption into the Masters but must qualify (or receive an exemption) for the other three majors. The PGA Championship typically grants special exemptions to players inside the top 100 in the OWGR who are not already exempt. The U.S. Open uses a top-50 OWGR cut-off, while the Open Championship uses top-60. Both the R&A and USGA also added a LIV exemption last year, awarding a spot to the player inside the top-three in the individual standings who isn’t already exempt.
Now ranked within the top 30 in the world—and with LIV potentially earning OWGR points this year—Reed’s route to the three majors outside of Augusta National appears more straightforward than in recent years.The win in Dubai should help him secure a spot.
