Reed, Hillier continue fine form to share Qatar lead

Stimpmeter · February 5, 2026, 5:00pm

Patrick Reed continued his stunning start to the season to share the first-round lead with Daniel Hillier at the Qatar Masters.

The 2018 Masters champion recorded his fourth DP World Tour win at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic two weeks ago and was only denied another in a playoff at last week’s Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship.

Hillier, for his part, goes into the week fifth on the Race to Dubai Rankings after four top-six finishes in his five events so far including second place at the Dubai Invitational and a tie for fourth in Bahrain – and the pair shared top spot here on seven under par after rounds of 65.

South Africa’s Richard Sterne shared 10th position after a 68 that included five birdies and a bogey, with countryman Daniel van Tonder a further stroke behind.

Reed hit the ground running with three straight birdies to start his round. A bogey and another birdie meant his first par did not come until his sixth hole, the 15th, and he had only two in an outward nine of 31 thanks to further gains at the 16th and 17th.

He birdied the 1st, 4th and 7th before a bogey at the 8th left him tied with Hillier.

“I hit the ball pretty well, especially early in the round, a lot of my birdies were just kind of kick-ins which is always nice, not having to think too much around there,” said the American.

“The golf course, especially when it’s windy like this, it requires a lot of shot-making – you have to work the ball both ways, or flight things down, or take it up in the air. That’s the kind of golf I like.

“I like to get creative when I’m out there and a golf course like this with a lot of doglegs and cross-winds, it allows you to do that. It’s just one of these places that kind of suits my eye.”

Hillier also started from the 10th with a pair of birdies, with another at the 16th taking him out in 33.

The New Zealander picked up another three in four holes from the 3rd and after his only bogey of the day at the 8th, a closing eagle provided the perfect finish to his round.

“Yeah, that was nice,” he said. “I was a little frustrated with a soft bogey there [on his 17th hole] but nice to get a couple back at the end.

“My game’s feeling really good so I’m just trying to ride the wave, I guess.”

There was a Scandinavian flavour to the chasing pack, with Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult, Dane Jacob Skov Olesen and Finland’s Oliver Lindell all at six under.

They were joined late in the day by Spain’s Angel Ayora and Italy’s Gregorio De Leo, the latter ending his round with a bogey at the ninth hole to deny him a share of the lead.

Another Swede, Joakim Lagergren, was five under alongside New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori.

David Micheluzzi provided one of the highlights of the day with a hole-in-one at the 3rd hole. The Australian was one under par for his round.

It was a landmark day for the Republic of Ireland’s three-time Major champion Pádraig Harrington, who made his 500th start on the DP World Tour and was presented with a silver platter by tournament director Mikael Eriksson to mark the occasion.

Harrington also shot a one-under-par 71, with birdies at the 9th and 10th offset by a bogey at the 15th.

Play was suspended for the night with four groups still to complete their rounds. Adri Arnaus and Francesco Laporta, both at two under, were the leading players among the 12 with holes still to play.

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