HERO DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC

January 25, 2026

Patrick Reed

Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club

Press Conference

Q. Hero Dubai Desert Classic winner, 2026. Try and describe your emotions.

PATRICK REED: Yeah, it hasn't fully set in yet. But yeah, today was a lot harder than I expected. I knew it was going to be. I just couldn't really get anything going on the front nine.

I learned a lot about the round today. Instead of just keeping the foot on the gas early, I tried to protect that lead since I had a four-shot lead, and next thing you know, David goes and birdies 8 and 9 and shuts it down to two.

Even Kess was like, "Hey, now it's a dogfight. Now let's get going. Go shoot under par on the back nine, no one will beat you."

We were able to get that birdie on 13 to get to 1-under and he gave me a gift there by bogeying, and from there on, just hit fairways, hit greens and just don't make any mistakes.

Q. How hard was it out there, one over for the front nine, how much of a grind was the first nine holes?

PATRICK REED: It was a grind. It was one of those nine holes, I really didn't feel like I hit it that bad. Just couldn't get anything really close, and when I did, maybe over-read a couple putts, but besides that, kind of steady.

I hit the ball -- I hit it okay, I didn't hit it close. That's the hard part. When you try to protect, all of a sudden instead of looking at flags, you're looking away and you misjudge the wind here or there, you get 50 feet all day long. It's kind of what happened and good thing we were able to make that switch around the back nine and get it going.

Q. As you said, you got the lead to 2. 13 is a huge hole. Did it feel like the pressure value released to get the lead back to four for you?

PATRICK REED: No. I mean, obviously, when you're 4-up with a couple left, definitely felt a lot nicer. But with the firepower that David has there, especially with his length, I mean, when he hit that drive there on 14, it's like where the heck is he going, almost in the fairway and he's able to cut the corner on 16, and I know he's going to get close there on 17.

So for me, I knew I had to keep the pedal down because with him, I mean, felt like he would have had the advantage on the last couple holes with his length. I can't get to a lot of those corners. I can't drive 17. You know, just kind of those kind of things that I didn't take advantage of the last time I was here. I was like, hey, you've got to get a little bit further of a cushion because these long guys, they are going to take advantage of those holes.