Harold Varner III
Harold Varner III (born August 15, 1990) is an American professional golfer who competes on the LIV Golf League. Raised in Gastonia, North Carolina, after being born in Akron, Ohio, he excelled at East Carolina University, becoming the first Pirate to break 200 in a 54-hole tournament, before turning pro in 2012.[1][2] Varner earned his PGA Tour card via the Korn Ferry Tour and recorded multiple top-10 finishes, though he secured no victories there. His professional wins include the 2016 Australian PGA Championship on the PGA Tour of Australasia, the 2022 PIF Saudi International on the Asian Tour, and the 2023 LIV Golf Washington, D.C., his maiden individual title on that circuit after joining the league in 2022.[1][3][4]Early Life and Amateur Career
Childhood and Introduction to Golf
Harold Varner III was born on August 15, 1990, in Akron, Ohio, to Harold Varner Jr., a car salesman, and Patricia Carter.[2] [5] At age six, his family relocated to Gastonia, North Carolina, where he was raised in a working-class household amid limited financial resources.[5] [6] Varner's introduction to golf came through his father, who brought him along to weekend matches at the local municipal course, then known as Gastonia Municipal Golf Course (now Catawba Creek).[7] [8] By age nine, Varner had begun regularly playing there, with his parents purchasing a $100 annual pass that granted unlimited access despite the family's modest means.[8] [9] This opportunity allowed him to develop fundamentals through repeated observation of games and self-directed practice, including honing skills on a makeshift hole near his home.[3] [6] Financial constraints and reliance on public facilities underscored the barriers Varner faced, yet persistent personal effort enabled steady improvement without formal coaching or elite resources.[9] His early progression relied on empirical repetition at the municipal course, where access was earned through family investment rather than privilege.[8]College Career and Amateur Achievements
Varner attended East Carolina University from 2009 to 2012, competing for the Pirates men's golf team.[2] He recorded two victories and 10 top-five finishes during his collegiate career.[10] In 2012, Varner became the first player in program history to earn Conference USA Golfer of the Year honors, marking the fifth such conference player-of-the-year award for an ECU golfer overall but the first under C-USA affiliation.[11][2] He was a three-time All-Conference USA selection, including first-team honors in 2011 and 2012.[2] Varner set the ECU record for lowest career scoring average at 72.28.[12] As an amateur, Varner won the 2011 North Carolina Amateur Championship, carding a tournament-record 14-under-par 72-hole total and closing with a 66 to prevail by three strokes; he became the first African-American male to claim the title in the event's 102-year history.[2][13] That same year, he captured the North Carolina Amateur Match Play Championship, achieving the distinction of being the first to win both the stroke-play and match-play state titles in a single season.[14] Varner was inducted into the East Carolina University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022 in recognition of his collegiate accomplishments.[12] He turned professional immediately following the conclusion of his college eligibility in 2012.[1]Professional Career
Early Professional Years and Minor Tour Successes
Varner turned professional in 2012 following his college career at East Carolina University, initially competing in developmental events and qualifiers.[1] He missed the cut in his debut at the Chiquita Classic on the Web.com Tour that year and subsequently grinded on Florida's mini-tours, where opportunities were limited and earnings inconsistent, reflecting the challenges of transitioning from amateur to low-level professional circuits.[15] In 2013, he secured his first professional victory at the Lee Westwood Golf School Open, a mini-tour event in Florida, demonstrating emerging consistency amid sparse high-level exposure.[16] To build toward PGA Tour eligibility, Varner strategically committed to the Web.com Tour (now Korn Ferry Tour) starting in 2014, prioritizing volume play to accumulate points and refine his game against stronger fields. In his rookie season, he made cuts in 13 of 21 starts with two top-10 finishes, ending 30th on the money list with earnings that fell short of promotion but established a foundation of reliability.[17] This approach paid dividends in 2015, as he logged 25 starts, made 18 cuts (72% rate), achieved three top-10 results—including a runner-up at the Panama Claro Championship—and earned $199,504 to finish 25th on the regular-season points list, securing full PGA Tour status for the 2016 season as the final guaranteed qualifier.[18][15] These minor-tour efforts highlighted Varner's proficiency in ball-striking and adaptability, with top-10 percentages underscoring sustained competence despite no outright wins on the circuit, positioning him for PGA Tour competition through methodical points accumulation rather than sporadic exemptions.[19]PGA Tour Tenure (2013–2022)
Harold Varner III earned his PGA Tour card through qualifying school in late 2013, securing full playing status for the 2014 season, which he maintained annually through 2022 by finishing within the top 125 in FedEx Cup points each year.[1] Over this period, he competed in 191 events, making 123 cuts and recording 16 top-10 finishes, including six top-5s, but secured no victories.[20] His career earnings on the tour exceeded $10.6 million, reflecting consistent mid-tier performance in a field demanding sustained excellence for card retention, where only the top 125 advance annually via rigorous points accumulation.[1] This structure underscores the tour's exclusivity, prioritizing merit through objective metrics amid deep competitive talent, as evidenced by Varner's multiple near-elite results without breakthroughs. Varner's peak form occurred around 2018–2019, when he achieved a career-high Official World Golf Ranking of 36th following a third-place finish at The Northern Trust. Notable near-misses highlighted his contention capabilities, such as leading after 54 holes at the 2020 Genesis Invitational before a double-bogey on the 10th derailed his chances, resulting in a finish outside the top 10.[21] Similarly, at the 2019 PGA Championship, he entered the final round tied for second but carded an 11-over 81 to drop to T36, demonstrating the fine margins in major contention.[22] He also logged a runner-up at the 2021 RBC Heritage, one of his six top-5s, yet these instances without conversion illustrate the tour's parity, where strokes gained efficiency often separates contenders from winners.[3] ShotLink data revealed Varner's strengths in power golf, with average driving distances exceeding 300 yards annually—peaking at 308.2 yards in 2017–18 and ranking as high as 24th in 2015–16—bolstering his off-the-tee game.[23] [24] Complementing this, his short game and approach play showed variability but positive strokes gained in key events, such as +1.20 SG: Approach at the 2022 PGA Championship and occasional putting gains like +0.95 at the 2019 PGA.[25] FedEx Cup standings fluctuated, with finishes like 80th in one season despite 25th in SG: Total, underscoring how inconsistent putting can limit advancement in a points system favoring well-rounded proficiency.[26] Varner qualified for multiple majors through OWGR and tour performance, including the 2019 PGA Championship where he briefly threatened for the title, though final-round collapses prevented deeper runs.[27] Injuries appeared minimally disruptive during this tenure, with no major setbacks documented halting his schedule, allowing steady participation that balanced the tour's high entry barriers—overcome via Web.com Tour success and Q-School—against the causal reality of talent depth requiring near-flawless execution for wins.[1] This era affirmed his resilience in a meritocratic ecosystem, where empirical metrics like top-125 retention demand objective outperformance amid elite competition.[28]Transition to LIV Golf and Rationale
In August 2022, Harold Varner III announced his decision to join LIV Golf, posting a public statement on Instagram explaining the move as a financial opportunity he could not decline.[29][30] The announcement came amid LIV Golf's ongoing recruitment of players, following its inaugural events earlier that year, and positioned Varner as one of several mid-ranking professionals attracted to the league's structure of guaranteed contracts and limited-field events without cuts. Reports indicated he received a signing bonus of approximately $15 million, providing immediate financial stability in contrast to the PGA Tour's performance-based earnings model, where mid-tier players like Varner—lacking a PGA Tour victory despite consistent top finishes—faced high variance in income due to cuts and conditional prize money.[31][32] Varner's stated rationale centered on securing his family's future, emphasizing his upbringing without significant wealth and the need to ensure generational security for his young son and future children. In his Instagram post, he wrote that the LIV opportunity represented a "financial breakthrough" enabling him to "change the direction of my family's life," explicitly prioritizing this over loyalty to the PGA Tour, where frustrations with inconsistent opportunities for non-elite players had built over years of grinding for status. This decision aligned with empirical realities for players in his tier: PGA Tour data from prior seasons showed average earnings for non-winners hovering around $1-2 million annually, subject to form fluctuations and event qualification risks, whereas LIV's format offered fixed payouts—$4 million for last place in individual events—reducing downside exposure and appealing to causal incentives for risk-averse professionals.[30][31][33] The transition occurred against a backdrop of PGA Tour suspensions for players joining LIV, which Varner accepted as a consequence of pursuing superior economic terms in a disrupted market, rather than viewing it as a betrayal of tradition. LIV Golf's entry, backed by substantial investment, created antitrust pressures—including a subsequent lawsuit against the PGA Tour—that highlighted structural rigidities in the established model's exclusivity, making Varner's choice a pragmatic response to competitive innovation offering better alignment with first-order priorities like family provision over secondary concerns such as tour prestige.[34][35]LIV Golf Era (2022–Present)
Harold Varner III joined LIV Golf in August 2022, aligning with the Crushers GC team captained by Bryson DeChambeau.[3] In his debut season, he competed in multiple events, posting a relative average score of 22.1 across the schedule, finishing outside the top 30 in overall individual standings amid an adjustment to the 54-hole, no-cut format.[36] The team's structure emphasized collective scoring in shotgun starts and playoffs, which Varner credited for fostering competitive synergy, though Crushers GC ended mid-pack in team rankings that year.[3] The 2023 season marked a breakthrough, with Varner securing his first LIV individual victory at the Washington, D.C. event on May 28, carding a final-round 68 to finish at 12-under par, one stroke ahead of Branden Grace.[37] He concluded the year seventh in the individual points standings with a scoring average reflecting enhanced consistency in stroke play, outperforming his 2022 marks.[3] Team dynamics peaked as Crushers GC captured the LIV Golf Team Championship on October 22, leveraging Varner's steady contributions alongside teammates in the aggregate format.[38] The reduced schedule of 14 events compared to traditional tours allowed greater recovery between rounds, correlating with Varner's improved ball-striking metrics and fewer missed cuts, countering critiques of diluted fields by highlighting sustained low scoring against elite competition.[3] Prior to the 2024 season, Varner transferred to 4Aces GC, joining captain Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, and Pat Perez.[3] His performance declined, ranking 39th individually with earnings of $2,305,250 from on-course play, amid off-course personal challenges that impacted focus.[39] 4Aces struggled in team events, but Varner avoided relegation by finishing tied for 13th in key qualifiers, retaining his contract through performance thresholds.[40] The format's team incentives provided motivational structure, yet the season underscored vulnerabilities in adapting to roster changes and external pressures. Entering 2025 with 4Aces GC, Varner showed signs of resurgence, tying for the first-round lead at LIV Golf Dallas on June 27 with a 5-under 67 alongside Reed, propelling the team atop early leaderboards.[41] He achieved a top-5 finish at the Chicago event and tied for fifth at Dallas overall, demonstrating rebounding form in stroke play with tighter scoring dispersion than 2024.[42] Through October, his results included a T19 at Hong Kong, reflecting ongoing adaptation to the league's emphasis on team aggregates and shorter fields that prioritize precision over endurance.[43] While LIV's limited integration with majors remains a drawback for global exposure, the format's predictability has aligned with Varner's strengths in controlled, high-stakes 54-hole bursts.[3]Professional Wins
European Tour Victory
Harold Varner III achieved his only victory on the European Tour at the 2016 Australian PGA Championship, contested from December 1 to 4 at Royal Pines Resort on Australia's Gold Coast.[44] Co-sanctioned by the European Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia, the tournament featured a strong field including major champion Adam Scott, who placed third at 17-under par.[45] Starting the final round two shots behind leader Andrew Dodt, Varner carded a bogey-free 7-under 65 with nine birdies to finish at 19-under, securing a two-stroke margin of victory.[46][47] The win marked Varner's first professional title outside U.S. mini-tours and made him the second American champion of the event, following Hale Irwin in 1978; he was also the first to prevail on the European Tour via a sponsor's invitation.[44] Ranked 184th in the Official World Golf Ranking entering the week, the performance—bolstered by his distance off the tee—elevated his global standing and provided crucial momentum for retaining full PGA Tour membership amid a challenging 2016 season on that circuit.[46][48] Varner earned €175,631 from the €1.15 million purse, a payout that underscored the event's prestige as the European Tour's season opener.[49]Asian Tour Victory
Varner III secured his first Asian Tour victory at the 2022 PIF Saudi International, held from February 3–6 at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia.[50][51] Entering the final round with a one-stroke lead over Spain's Adri Arnaus, he carded a 1-under-par 69 to finish at 13-under-par 275, edging out Bubba Watson by one stroke.[50][52] The decisive moment came on the par-5 18th hole, where Varner III drained a 92-foot eagle putt after reaching the green in two shots, securing the outright win and a $1 million first-place prize from the $5 million purse.[51][50] This marked his second professional victory worldwide, following a runner-up finish at the same event in 2021, and elevated him to 45th in the Official World Golf Ranking, enhancing his eligibility for major tournaments.[53][3] The tournament featured a strong international field, including multiple major champions and top-50 ranked players, underscoring the event's competitive depth on the Asian Tour schedule.[51] Varner's performance included consistent scoring across rounds—66-68-72-69—demonstrating resilience after a bogey on the 17th in the finale, with the eagle putt providing a dramatic flourish.[50][54] This triumph also contributed points toward the Asian Tour's Order of Merit, affirming Varner III's adaptability in non-PGA Tour events.[55]LIV Golf Victory
Harold Varner III claimed his maiden individual LIV Golf title at the 2023 LIV Golf Washington D.C. event, held May 26–28 at Trump National Golf Club in Potomac Falls, Virginia.[37] Finishing at 12-under-par 204 after a final-round 4-under 68, he edged out South Africa's Branden Grace by one stroke.[56][37] Varner's victory hinged on clutch execution on the par-5 18th hole, where he two-putted from approximately 35 feet for birdie to secure the outright win, avoiding a potential tie after Grace had birdied the hole moments earlier from 20 feet.[37] This performance underscored his putting prowess under pressure in LIV's 54-hole, no-cut format, which emphasizes consistent scoring across shorter fields compared to traditional PGA Tour events.[3] The win netted Varner $4 million from the tournament's $20 million individual purse—dwarfing typical PGA Tour event payouts and amplifying financial stakes in LIV's structure, where individual results also contribute to season-long points for team championships.[57][58] As a member of Phil Mickelson's RangeGoats GC, Varner's individual success highlighted how LIV's hybrid team-individual model rewards personal excellence while fostering squad dynamics, though RangeGoats placed outside the top teams at the event.[37] This triumph elevated Varner's 2023 LIV standings, marking his breakthrough after prior top finishes without a victory.[3]Competitive Results in Elite Events
Major Championships
Harold Varner III made his major championship debut as an amateur at the 2013 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, where he missed the cut with rounds of 79 and 75 (+14).[59] As a professional, he qualified for majors primarily through PGA Tour status and world rankings, appearing in 13 majors from 2016 to 2023, making the cut in seven (54%). His best finish came at the 2022 Masters Tournament (T23), followed by T28 at the 2022 Open Championship.[60] He has no top-10 finishes and missed the cut in all three U.S. Open appearances (2018, 2022 in addition to 2013). Varner's major performances reflect inconsistent play relative to his regular-tour form, where he ranked among PGA Tour leaders in ball-striking metrics like strokes gained: approach in select seasons (e.g., 10th in 2021). In majors, however, his proximity to the hole and greens in regulation lagged, contributing to missed cuts in events like multiple Masters (2018, 2020, 2021, 2023) and the Open Championship (2017, 2019).[1] Data indicates his major scoring average (around 73.5 in made cuts) exceeded his PGA Tour season averages by 1-2 strokes, attributable to higher pressure and field strength rather than equipment or swing degradation.[25] Following his 2022 move to LIV Golf, Varner's Official World Golf Ranking plummeted from a peak of No. 45 (post-February 2022 Saudi International win) to outside the top 500 by late 2023, as LIV events award no OWGR points—a policy rooted in the ranking system's reliance on designated-tour participation. This drop causally restricted major access, with exemptions typically requiring top-50 OWGR, past champion status, or special invites, none consistently met post-transition; he played only the 2023 PGA Championship (T29) among majors after 2022.[61]| Major | Years Played | Best Finish | Cuts Made |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 2018, 2020–2023 | T23 (2022) | 1/5 |
| PGA Championship | 2019–2023 | T29 (2020, 2023) | 5/5 |
| U.S. Open | 2013, 2018, 2022 | MC | 0/3 |
| The Open Championship | 2017, 2019, 2022 | T28 (2022) | 1/3 |