Rory McIlroy beats Patrick Reed by ONE SHOT to win the Dubai Desert Classic on the final hole

Rory McIlroy beat Patrick Reed to win the Dubai Desert Classic, after taking a one-stroke lead on the final hole on Monday.

The Northern Irishman sealed victory in a thrilling final round that saw him sink a Birdie putt to win by one stroke on the decisive 18th hole.

His American rival sealed a birdie to finish at -18 after missing a difficult opportunity to seal an Eagle from 35 yards, but left his rival needing a birdie to win it.

Rory McIlroy sealed a sensational third Dubai Desert Open title after beating Patrick Reed

McIlroy took a slight one-stroke lead over his rival heading into the final hole on Monday

A par on the final hole would force a playoff, and McIlroy nearly sent his ball into the rain, but stayed just short of the water hazard in a shaky start for the man who entered the final hole with a slim lead.

He then left a tricky up-and-down to get on pole position and seal the win without the tiebreaker being required, but he gave himself the best chance to do just that with the ball just 15 feet from Birdie.

After squatting down to survey the green before the crucial shot, he sent it straight into the heart of the hole before raising an arm in celebration.

Patrick Reed had put the pressure on McIlroy again with a Birdie of his own on the last hole.

In doing so, McIlroy sealed a sensational third Dubai Desert Open title, beating his bitter rival in the process.

McIlroy won a third Dubai Desert Classic title

The pair have been embroiled in a bitter feud that began after the newly crowned champion appeared to ignore the American on a practice range, only to have the snubbed Reed throw him a retaliatory tee.

McIlroy later revealed that his actions were due to his receiving a subpoena from the American attorney on Christmas Eve.

The pair had avoided being grouped in the third round, with tensions potentially boiling over, despite being tied.

Reed then found himself embroiled in further controversy after having to use binoculars to spot his ball being stuck in a palm tree, allowing a penalty shot instead of an expensive 275-yard walk back to the tee.

He then bogeyed the hole, but spectators suggested that his ball had entered a different tree than the one he saw with the binoculars.

After the incident, Reed said, “I was lucky to be able to look through the binoculars and you have to make sure it’s your ball and how I mark my golf balls I always put an arrow at the end of my line.”

“You could definitely see and identify the line with the arrow at the end, and the rules officer was there to reconfirm and check it to make sure it was mine as well.”

Another background to the battle in Dubai saw DP manager McIlroy outpoint LIV Golf’s Reed in a head-to-head battle, with an arbitration panel set to decide in February whether LIV golfers can compete in DP World Tour events.

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