After a second delay of the week due to flooding at the Emirates Golf Club, McIlroy returned to the course on Friday facing a short birdie putt on the par-3 seventh, his 16th hole.
The world number one calmly converted from four feet, then holed out of a fairway bunker in the eighth for an unlikely eagle and completed his morning’s work in style with another birdie in the difficult ninth.
That gave the two-time winner a six-under 66 that was matched by Reed, the former Masters champion who finished on the other side of the course when holed out from 15 feet for eagle on the par-five 18.
When the first round concluded late, McIlroy and Reed found themselves a shot behind world number one amateurs Ludvig Aberg and Ian Poulter, who shot 65s and enjoyed a short rest before starting the second round.
Poulter covered his first three holes at one under par to share the lead with fellow LIV member Richard Bland at eight under par, Bland started with three straight birdies before play was suspended due to diminishing light.
Tournament officials then announced that the second round would be completed on Saturday, with the third round on Sunday and the fourth on Monday.
“Honestly, not great,” McIlroy said when asked to rate his overall performance. “I wrestled out there most of yesterday.
“I thought I was right to be under par at the end of the day. I fought back after some very sloppy and rusty golf over the first 14 holes.”
“And then today I came out and I don’t really know if anything clicked because I don’t think I took enough shots to know. But it was definitely necessary.”
“I would have been happy with anything around 70 the way I played, and then going in there and shooting 66 is a huge advantage.”
As for the eagle in the eighth, McIlroy added: “I wouldn’t say I’m the best fairway bunker player in the world. The desert is a little bit nicer, it’s a little bit more crowded, so you get better lies.”
“All I was thinking about was catching it clean. As soon as I hit it, I knew it came out great and I was right on the pin. Again, anything within 20 feet, I would have liked, so it was certainly a advantage”.
Reed had completed 16 holes of his opening round at four under par on Thursday and resumed Friday with a par at short par-4 17 before a closing eagle.
“Obviously I’m very happy with the way I played,” Reed said. “I felt like last week wasn’t really a reflection of all the hard work I’ve been putting in in the off-season. It was getting more rusty in tournament golf.”
“So to come out this week and feel like I was able to put it all together and have a good mind on game planning and field management was definitely an advantage.”
The lead-up to the tournament had been dominated by the war of words between Reed and McIlroy, which arose after Reed blew a tee at McIlroy after being snubbed by the world number one on the practice range.
McIlroy said he had not seen the tee but was not impressed that the lawyer representing Reed subpoenaed him on Christmas Eve in a defamation lawsuit against various members of the media and organizations.
McIlroy’s subpoena is related to a separate civil lawsuit filed in June by Larry Klayman, alleging that Floridians who purchased tickets to PGA Tour events, or would do so in the future, were harmed by the PGA Tour allegedly weakened the fields by suspending players who joined LIV.
Reed, who joined LIV during its inaugural event in June, told reporters that the subpoena, which Klayman also attempted to serve on Tiger Woods, “has nothing to do with me or any of the lawsuits I’m part of.” . of” and labeled McIlroy as “a little immature child”.
