Varner shares Vegas top spot with Casey
LAS VEGAS — Harold Varner III made an impressive turnaround in one week, going from last place in the LIV Golf season opener to a 7-under 63 on Thursday to share the firstround lead with Paul Casey.
LIV Golf Las Vegas is being held the same week as the Super Bowl and drew a reasonable turnout at Las Vegas Country Club, despite temperatures that barely cracked 50 degrees when the shotgun start began.
Varner opened with two straight birdies and closed with two birdies on his last three holes. He began the season last week at the Mexican resort of Mayakoba and finished last in the 54-man field, 26 shots out of the lead.
Varner said he got in some work with Butch Harmon, the esteemed swing coach who lives in Las Vegas and doesn’t travel much. Key to his round was not having to take penalty drops when he hit a few wayward tee shots. PGA Tour: At Scottsdale, Ariz, Sahith Theegala returned from a lengthy weather delay to finish off a 6-under 65, taking the early lead in the unfinished first round of the Phoenix Open.
Five days after weather shortened the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am to 54 holes, storms followed the PGA Tour to the desert.
A chilly morning gave way to wind and heavy rain that left pools of water on the greens at TPC Scottsdale. The Stadium Course was deemed unplayable around noon, leading to a delay of 3 1/2 hours.
About half the field was able to finish following the delay, leaving the rest to return Friday morning to resume their first rounds. DP World Tour: At Doha, Qatar, South African golfer Zander Lombard maintained his strong start to 2024 by shooting 5-under 67 to take a share of the lead after the first round of the Qatar Masters.
Lombard was bogey-free around Doha Golf Club and was tied with Ashun Wu of China.
State Mid-amateur Championship:
The 40th State Mid-amateur Championship has been awarded to the Schuyler Meadows Club in Loudonville, the New York State Golf Association announced.
The championship for state residents over the age of 25 will be held Sept. 2729.
Schuyler Meadows most recently was host to the State Men’s Amateur in 2021. It is the eighth NYSGA event held at the course.