KIND ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, SAUDI ARABIA | Judging by his reaction, you’d have thought Bubba Watson had won the Saudi International. He ran the considerable distance between the scorer’s tent and the 18th green and hugged the man who so dramatically stole the impressive trophy from right under his nose – his dear friend Harold Varner III.
It’s not as if Watson is drowning in titles and can easily be magnanimous about one slipping away. The 43-year-old from Florida has been experiencing a drought that has now stretched into a painful fourth year. His 2018 Travelers Championship win is a distant memory.
Later, a giddy Varner told the media at Royal Green Golf & Country Club: “I could not have beaten a better man.”
A tournament that remained shrouded in controversy for months before it was even staged, finally produced such compelling drama that Shakespeare would have found hard to pen.
Varner led going to the final round and was six shots clear of Watson. But as Varner trudged off the picturesque par-3 16th with a bogey two holes after a double on No. 14, leaving him at 10-under, the two-time Masters winner simultaneously made a 15-foot putt for eagle at No. 18 to cap a 6-under-par 64 and set the clubhouse lead at 12-under for the tournament.
Varner, 31, and in his sixth year on the PGA Tour, walked to the 17th hole needing at least birdies on the last two holes to force a play-off. His birdie on the 17th came following a superb wedge to about 4 feet. On the 18th, the sneaky long Varner pushed his tee shot into the right rough and could only muscle it out short of the green. He needed to make that up-and-down from 5 yards off the green, with the pin trucked way back.
The estimated distance was 92 feet. Like a most advanced autonomous vehicle, that putt snaked through the contours of the green, never missing its final destination – the centre of the cup. Varner erupted euphorically, and his caddie leapt into his arms. Watson seemed almost as excited.
It was a most astonishing finish involving two close friends, with both finishing in similar fashion – birdie-eagle. It just could not have been scripted.
Varner is a popular man – an extrovert, who knows how to make friends. Asked if there were any important messages he was expecting, Varner replied: “I think I should get one from MJ (basketball legend Michael Jordan) and from T-Dub (Tiger Woods).”
“I’ve never questioned my ability. ... I don't march to anyone’s beat in here. I do what I’m supposed to do, and things come."
Harold Varner III
It was Varner’s first win following the one at the 2016 Australian PGA Championship, a European Tour co-sanctioned event. He has been a very consistent player on the PGA Tour, but did his inability to win tournaments frustrate him?
“I can answer this so easily,” he said. “I’ve never questioned my ability. The only people that question it are the people that sit right in here (media), and they’re like, ‘Man, he needs to be winning.’ But I don't march to anyone’s beat in here. I do what I’m supposed to do, and things come.
“Life happened. My wife – my girlfriend at the time – her brother died a week after (his victory in Australia) and we were celebrating. Things that I wasn’t ready to be a man about. I just didn’t know how to handle it because, I don’t know, I think it’s a hard thing to deal with. Those things get in the way of just focusing on golf.”
And now?
“No, I wouldn’t change a thing,” Varner said. “How cool is that? It hasn’t happened in a long time, and then the way it happened right there, it’s frickin’ awesome. I could have said something else, but I can’t say that here.”
The victory happened to come at the expense of Watson, with whom he has developed a close friendship.
“We’ve shared a lot of time together. He’s always been in my corner,” explained Varner, who is expected to rise to inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking as a result of his win (he’ll need to be in the top-50 at the conclusion of the WGC-Match Play to qualify for his first Masters). “This would be 2018, when he just pulled me to the side and he invited me to play in the QBE Shootout. We just really hung out, and we bonded.
“We see life pretty similar, and we just hang out. This week we’ve hung out a lot. But we also know how to give each other smack. That’s the kind of friendships that I have. I’m not really good at just always being your friend. I want to talk smack. I want to be in your face, and I want you to do the same to me, and he’s really good at that.”
The smack talk might have been pointed toward Varner. A Watson victory would have qualified him for more majors beyond the Masters.
But Varner had an eagle of his own on the 72nd hole.
“I said this as soon as it went in … I could not have beaten a better person,” Varner said. “That’s rude. But if I could beat somebody that I look up to, how cool is that? And the way it happened … hate it for him. But then he’s won plenty.”
Top: Harold Varner III sank a 92-foot putt from off the green to claim his biggest career victory.
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