Varner stumbles

OLD BETHPAGE, N.Y. — After receiving supportive messages from Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan the night before, Harold Varner III could not have had a better start to the final round of the PGA Championship.

Varner, 28, birdied the first hole at Bethpage Black playing in the final pairing to draw within five strokes of eventual champion Brooks Koepka, who bogeyed the hole.

It was the best thing to happen to Varner on Sunday. The world’s 174thranked player shot 11-over 81 and went from sole possession of second place to a tie for 36th with a 6-over total.

It marked the first time a player in the last pairing on the final day of a major shot in the 80s.

“Man, it’s just rough. It was hard. It was really hard,” said Varner, whose only win was in the 2017 Australian PGA championship. “I just didn’t play well enough.”

Varner finished with one birdie, three double bogeys, six bogeys and eight pars.