(Reuters) – World number eight Patrick Reed became the latest high-profile player to withdraw from this week’s $7 million Turkish Airlines Golf Open, organizers said on Monday.
Four-times major winner Rory McIlroy pulled out of the first event on the European tour’s three-tournament, season-ending Final Series, due to be held in Antalya from Nov. 3-6, over the weekend. American Reed, who was part of the victorious Ryder Cup team at Hazeltine this month, finished tied for 60th in last week’s WGC-HSBC Champions tournament.
Earlier this month, the Turkish Open was thrown into doubt after the European Tour said it was investigating media reports of rocket attacks in Antalya.
McIlroy, who climbed to second in the word rankings after his tied-fourth placed finish in Shanghai on Sunday, is trailing Henrik Stenson and Danny Willett in the Race to Dubai standings.
U.S. Masters champion and world number 10 Willett is scheduled to play in Turkey.
“I think it’s obvious,” McIlroy told reporters.
“The fact I’ve won the FedEx Cup this year and won the Race to Dubai before made the decision a little easier. I guess it’s out of my hands,” he added.
“I took the decision not to go to Turkey next week. Those boys can battle it out. If I have somewhat of a chance going into Dubai, that’s great. If not, they’ve had big wins over the course of the season. They’ve played well, two major championships. I’m OK with that.” (Reporting by Nivedita Shankar in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
Reuters
