Rory McIlroy cracks joke about Patrick Reed after his birdie-eagle-birdie finish

Rory McIlroy shook his head and laughed after only needing seven shots to finish off his first round at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic to set up a tantalising prospect of a weekend duel with his arch rival Patrick Reed. 

Weather issues meant that players had to finish their first round of the Rolex Series event on the DP World Tour on Friday morning. 

McIlroy began his first round on the back nine and had only got to hole No. 7 when the players were forced off because of poor light. 

He came racing out of the blocks with a birdie at the par-3, stiffing his tee shot over water to only 3ft 11ins. 

McIlroy told the media that he would've taken the wrong line if he had chosen to play his tee shot on Thursday in near darkness. 

That was only the start of a spectacular 45 minutes. 

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At the next hole McIlroy holed out for eagle from 116 yards. McIlroy duly high fived his caddie Harry Diamond before going to retrieve his TP5x. 

Once again McIlroy lost his drive way right at No. 9. 

No matter. 

McIlroy sent a soaring 8-iron to within four feet and duly tucked away his birdie putt. 

It meant that he carded an opening round of 6-under 66 to see him draw level with the aforementioned Reed. 

Watch McIlroy's crazy finish here:

Rory starts the day with a hole-out eagle #HeroDDC | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/SyPuvjrOIT

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 27, 2023

A pretty wild 45 minutes



Rory finishes his opening round birdie-eagle-birdie to take the lead.#HeroDDC | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/xSKIa2sifL

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 27, 2023

What McIlroy said after the round...

McIlroy told the media he's usually "the master" of turning a 66 into a 70. 

He added: 

"The first person I saw was Patrick Reed"

In case it escaped your attention, McIlroy was involved in a back-and-forth with LIV Golfer Reed earlier in the week. 

It all began on the range when Reed approached McIlroy with the intention of saying hello but the Ulsterman ignored the 32-year-old American. 

Reed reacted to the snub by flicking a LIV-branded 4 Aces GC tee in McIlroy's direction. 

The tour pros have found it all absolutely hilarious. Justin Thomas said he hoped both players would be okay after the "dangerous" incident. 

McIlroy had the most hilarious reaction in his press-conference when he was asked about it.

Reed called McIlroy "an immature little child". 

He described it as a "storm in a teacup" but accused Reed of not living in reality. On Thursday, McIlroy reiterated once again everything had been blown out of proportion. 

McIlroy told the media:

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