DP World Tour : Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship
With one trophy already in his possession this year, Patrick Reed is hoping to continue his strong start to 2026 on the DP World Tour at this week’s Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship.
The American arrives in the Kingdom of Bahrain as the top-ranked player in the field after his impressive four-shot victory at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic saw him rise to 29th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Victory at the first Rolex Series event of the campaign saw Reed claim his fourth DP World Tour title, but with his previous wins all coming in co-sanctioned events – the 2018 Masters Tournament and two World Golf Championships events – the triumph took on even greater significance personally.
A member of the DP World Tour since 2015, the 35-year-old knows the value of performing in the schedule’s blue riband events and stands second in the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World – less than 400 points adrift of Jayden Schaper, who is also teeing it up this week.
While the stage at Royal Golf Club may be smaller than at Emirates Golf Club, Reed is glad to be competing again rather than toasting his success and knows a top-two finish could see him overtake the in-form Schaper.
"The game feels really solid and we’re looking forward to getting right back at it and getting playing here this week, and just trying to take that confidence in the way I was playing last week into this week," he said.
"The first couple of weeks out on the road, at the start of the season after an off-season, is really to kind of see if what you worked on during the off-season actually worked.
"And to come out and play the way we did, especially to go out and get a win at such a demanding golf course last week, definitely allows me to have the confidence and hopefully jumpstart to having a really good year and have one of those years where I’m holding up more than one trophy."
Renowned as being one of the best short-game players, Reed was informed last week that his ability around the greens had drawn comparisons to the late, great Seve Ballesteros by the Spaniard’s former caddie Billy Foster.
While that part of his game has always been a focus, Reed insists a newly instilled mission of improving other areas is something he hopes will result in a greater consistency of performance.
“For me, the biggest thing was obviously hitting fairways - drive the ball a little better, get the irons a little sharper, just allow the short game to continue being short game,” he said of his approach leading up into 2026.
“I think the biggest thing in my career, I focus so much on having my short game save me, and it’s whenever I am hitting the ball well, that’s when I’m using the short game as my weapon.
“This year, the focus was let’s hit the ball a little better, let’s get the ball striking back, so then we can go out and shoot lower numbers and just be more consistent off the tee and on the approaches, so that I can allow the short game to be a weapon rather than a saviour.”
After beginning the year at the Dubai Invitational, Reed is making his third start on the DP World Tour in as many weeks as part of the International Swing and returns to Bahrain for the second year in a row after finishing tied 60th on his debut.
“It’s a little bit softer this year, last year was firm and fast, the fairways were running out,” he said.
“So, it’s going to play a little longer this year compared to last, but it’s one of these golf courses that is going to be demanding, not only off the tee and out in the fairways, but your iron game has to be on point because the greens are large and there’s a lot of slope in them.
“You have to play certain quadrants of these greens, so this golf course is a really good test. If the wind continues to pick up, it’s going to be a little more challenging, but it’s really just a premium in ball striking and staying patient.”
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
