Rory McIlroy Admits To Having To Block Out The Patrick Reed Drama During Final Round Win In Dubai

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Rory McIlroy earned his third career Dubai Desert Classic title on Monday to cap off what could very well be the most dramatic week of his career.

After Patrick Reed posted an impressive seven-under 65 to take the clubhouse lead, McIlroy was able to birdie the final hole to take the honors by a shot. It was a fitting end to a week dominated by McIlroy and Reed in the headlines.

Prior to the start of the tournament, a video showed McIlroy ignoring Reed on the driving range and the LIV golfer tossing a tee at the World No. 1. This led to a back-and-forth through the media with McIlroy making it very clear he wants nothing to do with Reed, before the American called McIlroy an "immature child" in response.

Well, McIlroy got the last jab in the form of a season-starting win and a $1.53 million payday.

Despite McIlroy making it look easy, he admitted after the round that it was far from it.

"Mentally it was very tough today. I felt like I could have let my emotions get in the way. I expended a lot of mental energy today trying to focus on myself and focus on shooting a score and trying to reach a number," McIlroy explained.

"I think mentally today was probably one of the toughest rounds I've ever had to play because it would be really easy to let your emotions get in the way and I just had to really concentrate on focusing on myself. Forget who was up there on the leaderboard, and I did that really, really well."

While McIlroy now has 36 professional wins to his name including four majors, his victory over Reed in Dubai has to be near the top of the list of the sweetest victories of his career.

The next time we'll see McIlroy and Reed in the same field will be at Augusta National for the Masters in April. While we're still over two months out from the year's first major, the drama between these two will certainly be on the mind of the golf world heading into the tournament.

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.