The simmering tension between some of the best golfers in the world was once again evident at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai as Patrick Reed reportedly threw a golf tee at Rory McIlroy in anger.
Reed, a former Masters champion who defected to LIV Golf last year, was playing on the same course as World No.1 McIlroy in preparation for the DP World Tour event and appeared to approach the Northern Irishman to greet him.
33-year-old McIlroy kept his head down and reportedly ignored the US star, prompting Reed to reach into his pocket and grab a tee which he then threw in the direction of McIlroy.
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Reed is permitted to play DP World Tour events until an arbitration case in the UK in two weeks decides on the Tour’s ability to suspend the LIV Golf rebels.
Reed had a defamation case against analyst Brandel Chamblee and the Golf Channel dismissed on Friday by a federal judge in Florida.
McIlroy has admitted in the past that he feels 'uncomfortable' over the presence of LIV Golf stars playing on the DP World Tour.
"I hate what it's doing to the game of golf. I hate it. I really do," McIlroy said last summer. "Like it's going to be hard for me to stomach going to Wentworth in a couple of weeks' time and seeing 18 of them there. That just doesn't sit right with me.
"So yeah, I feel strongly. I believe what I'm saying are the right things, and I think when you believe that what you're saying is the right things, you're happy to stick your neck out on the line.”
Another Irish ace Shane Lowry has also spoken of his struggles with the civil war that has been threatening to rip the game apart.
“Anybody that knows me I don't like confrontation or any of that stuff," Lowry said last year. “I'll say hello and do my thing. That's the way I'll be.
"But yeah there are certain lads that I shake hands with and certain hands I wouldn’t.”
