Rory McIlroy wants to win the 2026 BMW PGA Championship and create history, but Patrick Reed says he will have to wait. The two have been at it for over a decade now. Their fiery rivalry has seen seasons of tense Ryder Cup singles matches, a Christmas Eve subpoena, and a thrown tee on a range in Dubai. That rivalry continues as the two battle it out for the Race to Dubai (R2D) title, where Reed currently has the edge in R2D points. Both are competing in the BMW PGA Championship this week, and Reed knows what a win against the Northern Irish professional golfer would mean for him.

As noted by Flushing It Golf, Reed said, “Just to finish number one would be amazing. I know it’s not gonna be easy because of a guy like Rory right on my tail right now. It’s always fun anytime I get to battle out with Rory. It’s always a blast, and you always have to go out and play solid golf.”

Reed then adds a punchline, saying, “I definitely wouldn’t mind making him wait one more year, but it’s only a matter of time.”

Reed knows that the stakes are high for the World No. 2. He is badly chasing a fifth straight Race to Dubai title and an eighth overall. A win here would not only give him a lead over Reed but also tie him with Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight R2D titles. It would also make him eligible for the Rory McIlroy Award.

But there’s more at stake for Reed. Collin Morikawa remains the first and only American golfer to win the Race to Dubai title. He will be looking for his second win here. So Reed needs to stop both Morikawa and McIlroy to keep his lead.

Wentworth hosts a Rolex Series event this week, worth 8,000 Race to Dubai points to the winner, more than any stop besides the finale. Reed arrives at Wentworth with 3423.62 R2D points in 17 matches, already roughly 840 points ahead of Rory McIlroy’s 2583.86 R2D points in 9 matches.

Moreover, Reed has held the top spot in the Race to Dubai standings for 31 weeks straight. His season includes winning titles at the Dubai Desert Classic and Qatar Masters early in the season, then adding a runner-up finish at the Irish Open.

The facet of their rivalry is not new. It started at the 2016 Ryder Cup, where the two clashed in an electric singles match at Hazeltine. It resurfaced hard in 2023 when Reed served McIlroy with a lawsuit-related subpoena on Christmas Eve, then approached him on the range days later at the Dubai Desert Classic. McIlroy went on to win that tournament and called it “sweeter than it should be,” in direct reference to the revenge.

A similar tussle was visible at the Irish Open, where Reed finished runner-up. To that, McIlroy acknowledged the advantage and said, “I didn’t have the greatest week last week, and Patrick played well, so I dropped a little bit further behind him.”

Now, another glimpse of the chase was much more visible in round one at the BMW PGA Championship. Reed carded a four-under 68 on the West Course, his best putt coming on the par-4 7th, where he rolled a 22-footer for birdie and gained 0.90 strokes in putting.

Meanwhile, McIlroy shot a 69, just one shot back. He picked up five birdies on his opening nine holes (holes 10–18) to match the co-leaders. His round began to unravel down the stretch because of wayward tee shots. He bogeyed on the 3rd and 6th before a costly final error on the par-4 8th hole (his 17th of the day), where his ball found the water, leading to a closing bogey.

Well, for now, McIlroy faces a month-long break from the tour after Wentworth, while Reed does not. Whether McIlroy can catch up to the lead this week remains to be seen.