CLARE BODEL: Welcome back to Abu Dhabi. You had some great success in this region at the start of the season, with that Rolex Series win in Dubai. Wonder how you feel back in this part of the world with a chance to win this season-long points race.
PATRICK REED: Always excited to come back to the desert. It's always fun coming over here. This golf course, didn't fair very well the first time I played but last year, started to figure out some things around this place. One of those places you just play a couple times, game is in good shape. Kind of feels like home right now. Golf is good.
Body feels a hundred percent.
Q. And are these TWO courses that you would have picked for such an important finish to the season, or despite your record at the start of of the year, would you have preferred different courses that don't favour someone like Rory?
PATRICK REED: No, to be honest, everywhere I play, with guys that hit it as far as that, it's some type of advantage but at the same time you have to play from the fairway. And how slopey these greens are and how he firm they are, they are firmer than last year, so putting the ball in play going to be a premium. For me, with how long I hit the ball, I just as good of a chance. It's kind of a putting contest I feel like this week, and rolling the putter really well. So yeah, I feel good. I feel comfortable.
Q. And you've been leading The Race to Dubai for so long this year. If you didn't manage --
PATRICK REED: You always want to finish off the year. Obviously we were leading for most of the year but the way Eugenio has been playing, amazing golf, not just of late but throughout the whole year. Just one of those things that it really comes down to these last two weeks. We knew coming in, it was always going to come down to the last two events because of how big the points are. At the end of the day, get a chance to play Sunday and next week to have a chance to play win the whole thing.
Q. Rory and Eugenio both talked about how excited they are for the pairing. How exciting is it for you?
PATRICK REED: Really excited to be in this position to come out here and kind of just put my head down and play full time on the DP World Tour and had an opportunity for an American to win the Race would be something that is obviously a goal and a dream.
Yeah, it's very exciting, especially playing with those two. It's been a while since I've been in the same group as Rory. So it's going to be fun. I've gotten the pleasure of playing with Eugenio earlier this year. It's going to be a fun group to go out tomorrow and feed off each other and play some good golf.
Q. How much are you looking forward to being paired with Rory?
PATRICK REED: I have fun. I always love playing against Rory. I always pride myself on wanting to go out against the best and the play against the best but obviously with his record and kind of what he's done throughout his career, he's one of the best golfers to play the game. So to be able to go out there and go nose to nose with him and play against him is something I always cherish and really enjoy doing. It should be fun.
Q. What are your thoughts on whether we need to roll back the size of the driver heads?
PATRICK REED: I think that's a better solution. Obviously guys are hitting it farther and farther but driver heads these days are so large and guys are just swinging harder and harder. You can barely mis-hit a regular-size driver, and it still goes relatively straight.
I feel like, hey, if you want to swing it 125, 130, or however fast you can swing it, you need to make it a premium hitting the ball out of the centre of the face. Easiest way to me, I feel like the easiest way for me is instead of trying to roll back the golf ball to make the golf ball roll go shorter, make the head smaller. Roll the head back smaller on drivers and 3-woods to where it makes a premium on making soft contact in the middle. For some of the best golfers in the world, there shouldn't be a reason why they can't hit the ball with the centre of the face.
Q. You spent most of the season as the hunted, and now you're the hunter does. That slightly change how you approach this week and do you prefer changing somebody?
PATRICK REED: I mean, it's always fun leading, that's for sure. It's always fun being out in front. But we are in a good position, sitting there in second, and being able to chase and hunt him down. But a lot can happen in two weeks. Obviously later in the weeks is when you start thinking of, hey, do I need to press or not. But no, I mean, I've always looked at every week trying to go out and compete and have chance to win at that time and that week.
So really, the game plan still stays the same how I'm going to play the golf course, and obviously coming down towards the stretch on Sunday will be maybe the weekend here or there if need be. But you can get yourself in a lot of trouble thinking too far ahead and being too aggressive, and what got me to this position is playing my game and my type of golf. That's how I feel comfortable and that's how I'm going to attack going in there.
Q. You're going to be going back to playing the PGA Tour and you have enjoyed the DP World Tour. Do you still plan to come to Europe, especially the Spanish Open next season? Is there a chance to keep that on your schedule?
PATRICK REED: I have not looked at the yesterday for Spanish Open or anything like that but no, I'll definitely still be out here playing this tour. It's always been a dream of mine, as well as I've always made it a priority to be the American that comes over and keeps my card and comes over and plays worldwide golf. I've really enjoyed my time not only on the DP World Tour but with the guys out here and everything.
I'm definitely going to continue supporting this tour even playing the PGA Tour. Don't worry, I'll still be back.
Q. Will you understand if the PGA Tour reached an agreement with Jon Rahm, a chance to let them rejoin?
PATRICK REED: That's a hard question. I definitely I feel like it's something that they are going to be looking into. How they do it is up to them. But I've always been a firm believer that if you've earned the right to play, and you qualify, you can play my where.
Obviously with Jon's resumé and everything, it's one of those that obviously his team is going to be talking about the PGA Tour. I've always enjoyed playing with Jon. I've always been a firm believer that if you earned the right to play somewhere, you can go and play. We'll just have to wait and see.
CLARE BODEL: Thank you very much for your time, Patrick.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports