VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) — Patrick Reed was forced to retire from the BMW PGA Championship with a hand injury midway through the second round on Friday.
The American was 9-over par for his round — and 5 over for the tournament — when he chose to stop playing and was seen being driven away from the 10th tee after hitting his drive. He appeared to be flexing his left hand.
Reed shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday to be two shots off the overnight lead at the flagship European tour event held at Wentworth.
However, he had two sevens on his card in his second round — a triple on the par-4 first hole and a double on the par-5 fourth hole — as well as another double on No. 8.
Reed, who won the Dubai Desert Classic and the Qatar Masters early in 2026, leads the European tour’s season-long Race to Dubai ranking ahead of Rory McIlroy.
See AP’s full golf coverage here
Patrick Reed of the United States tees off the 2nd on day two of the Irish Open at Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg, Ireland, Friday Sept. 11, 2026. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 18, 2026--
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) today announced that Karandeep Anand will join the company as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, a newly created position, effective October 2. Anand, who most recently has served as CEO of Character.AI, will report directly to Disney Chief Executive Officer Josh D'Amaro.
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“Karandeep brings a rare mix of experience across infrastructure, consumer technology and AI, and will be a vital addition to Disney’s senior leadership team as we further our three priorities: great storytelling as our North Star, technology in service of creativity, and operating as One Disney," said D'Amaro. “He is an expert builder and strategist, technical and product-minded, with sharp instincts for what fans actually want. He also has real enthusiasm and respect for Disney, a clear sense of where technology and creativity meet, and shares our belief that technology creates the most value when it helps people do their best work.”
As Chief Technology Officer, Anand will oversee enterprise technology, infrastructure, data and AI platforms, product, and engineering, working across the company's segment technology teams to further modernize how Disney builds and delivers technology company-wide. Along with Anand’s appointment, a number of Character.AI’s technical team are expected to join Disney. The move comes as D’Amaro is sharpening Disney’s focus on technology as a driver of growth across the company. Since becoming CEO, D'Amaro has emphasized deepening Disney's direct relationships with fans by creating a more connected Disney experience, with Disney+ as the digital centerpiece.
“I’ve admired Disney my entire life for how it blends unforgettable storytelling with the latest technology to constantly push the boundaries of what entertainment can be," Anand said. “I’m honored to join a team with such extraordinary creative talent, and I look forward to building on the company’s impressive technology capabilities to help Disney connect fans worldwide with its beloved stories and characters in new and innovative ways.”
Anand led Character.AI through a period of explosive growth, building one of the most engaged consumer-AI audiences in the world, while also making user trust and safety a priority as the platform scaled. Before Character.AI, he was President and Chief Product Officer of the financial technology company Brex. He also served in several leadership roles at Meta’s Facebook, most recently as Vice President of Ads & Business Products. Earlier in his career, Anand held senior product and engineering leadership roles at Microsoft, where he worked for 15 years and was part of the team that built the Azure platform. He holds a Computer Science degree from the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad.
About The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international entertainment and media enterprise that includes three business segments: Entertainment, Sports, and Experiences.
Karandeep Anand, The Walt Disney Company
