Varner upbeat despite disastrous final round
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — After getting 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.
The 28-year-old journeyman pro 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 174th-ranked player in the world shot an 11-over-par 81 and went from sole possession of second place to finishing tied for 36th at 6 over.
It marked the first time a player in the last pairing on the final day 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. It was a great experience. I’m going to get a lot better. It’s just a hard golf course. I don’t know, I don’t know. It’s good.”
Varner finished with one birdie, eight pars, six bogeys and three double bogeys.
His first doublebogey came at the par-3 second. He missed the green, chipped to 11 feet and three-putted.
The worst hole was the par-5, 524-yard No. 4. His 324-yard tee shot landed in stalk-like grass.
His second shot went sideways into the woods, and the ball was lost. Even Koepka came to help, but to no avail.
“I had about 30 seconds left,” Varner said of the search. “I didn’t think we were going to find it anyways. I didn’t really look for my golf ball. I thought I was screwed.”
Varner had to return to the native area and An 81 dropped Harold Varner III from second place entering the final round to a 36th-place finish. eventually took a 7.
Varner said his earlier rounds of 71, 67 and 67 convinced him he is good enough to compete with the best on the PGA Tour.
“I was right there,” he said. “Gosh, it was a lot of fun, man. It was something I’ve never felt before. So it was pretty cool.”
What really bothered Varner were some fans yelling for Koepka to choke after Dustin Johnson drew close.
“I have a few choice words for that,” Varner said. “I thought it was pretty weird how they were telling Brooks to choke. That’s not my cup of tea. I was pulling for him after that.”
Wind not welcome
Koepka’s coronation in the PGA Championship nearly got blown off the golf course.
It didn’t because his main competition, Johnson, had just as much trouble keeping his ball in play down the stretch.
Johnson was within one stroke of his close friend after a birdie on No. 15, a hole he birdied all four rounds. The 3 added significant tension to what had looked like a runaway win by Koepka. But Koepka’s seven-shot lead and the way he was mastering the course disappeared in a flurry of bogeys on the back nine after a birdie at No. 10.
Two of the longest and strongest players on the PGA Tour struggled mightily with the swirling winds that at times reached 20 mph.
“I knew today, starting off, that it was going to play tough,” said Johnson, who wound up two shots behind Koepka and relinquished the No. 1 world ranking to the winner. “You know, the wind was up. It was the most wind we’ve had all week.”
Spieth finishes third
Jordan Spieth registered his first top 10 since the British Open last summer with a 71 to finish at 2-under 278, six shots behind. He tied for third with Patrick Cantlay (71) and Matt Wallace (72).