One-time major champion Patrick Reed had been in good form at Wentworth, competing in the $9 million BMW PGA Championship. But the former LIV star’s tournament came to an abrupt end during the second round on Friday, forcing him to withdraw from the event. The reason why is raising questions.

“Patrick Reed has retired through injury during the second round of the BMW PGA Championship ⚠️❌,” DP World Tour reported on X alongside a video. 

Reed appeared to injure his left wrist while attempting a shot from the trees near a root on the ninth hole. After hitting his tee shot on the par-3 10th, the 36-year-old decided he could not continue and withdrew from the event. Video of the incident showed him getting into a cart while shaking and examining his wrist, which appeared to be causing him noticeable discomfort.

The withdrawal came just after Reed acknowledged that Rory McIlroy is “right on my tail” in the Race to Dubai standings. While he admitted that he enjoys competing against the Northern Irishman, Reed said he “definitely wouldn’t mind making him wait one more year” before McIlroy can equal Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight Race to Dubai titles. That task just got a lot more complicated.

Reed held an 839-point lead over McIlroy entering Wentworth, 3,423.62 to 2,583.86, but the tournament’s 8,000 available Race to Dubai points, with 1,335 going to the winner, 889 to the runner-up and 500 for third before the allocation tapers further down the leaderboard, meant the gap was far from insurmountable.

A second-place finish at Wentworth would have been enough to vault McIlroy ahead of Reed, a scenario now guaranteed by Reed’s withdrawal. With seven events remaining on the 2026 DP World Tour schedule, McIlroy has ample opportunity to close the gap further, or overtake Reed outright, especially if the wrist injury sidelines Reed from competing, or performing at his best, in the tournaments still to come. His record only sharpens the threat: he has already won the Race to Dubai seven times, and as the second round unfolds at Wentworth on Friday, he currently sits tied for ninth.

The Northern Irishman opened with a solid 3-under 69 in the first round. He started on the ninth and rattled off birdies at all four par-5s, reaching 5 under through his first ten holes and briefly taking the outright lead. Erratic driving on the way home proved costly, though, as three bogeys, including one after finding the water on the eighth, sent him tumbling back down the leaderboard. He finished Thursday tied for 19th, three shots behind leaders Aaron Rai and Joakim Lagergren.

McIlroy and Reed share a long-standing rivalry that dates back to their memorable 2016 Ryder Cup singles match at Hazeltine, where the pair traded birdies, eagles and animated celebrations before Reed won 1-up. Despite the intensity, they exchanged fist bumps afterward.

Their rivalry flared up again at the 2023 Dubai Desert Classic. Reed’s lawyer had just served McIlroy with a subpoena tied to the LIV Golf litigation. So when Reed turned around and sent him a New Year’s greeting like nothing happened, McIlroy didn’t respond. Reed later called him an “immature little child.” McIlroy brushed it off, calling the whole thing a “storm in a teacup,” then went out and won the tournament by a shot.

What happens next hinges on what the scans show. A minor issue, and Reed tees it up next week with his lead and his rivalry with McIlroy intact. A longer layoff, and the bigger threat to that lead won’t be anything McIlroy does on the course, but Reed sitting idle while the points pile up without him.