Harold Varner III made a short birdie putt at the 18th hole to win his first LIV event, prevailing at LIV Golf D.C. on Sunday in Sterling, Va.
Varner’s final-round 68 at Trump National Golf Club Washington, D.C. brought him to 12 under for the week, staving off Branden Grace of South Africa by a shot. Mito Pereira of Chile, the leader entering Sunday, settled for third at 10 under after a 71.
Varner, 32, won his first tournament since the Saudi International in February 2022.
“I’m getting better at golf,” Varner said. “That’s always been my goal. I think big things are coming.”
The winner of a $4 million check for first place, Varner said he will put much of it toward his charitable organization, the HV3 Foundation.
“I feel like I get to help a lot of people now, even more people, so that’s what kills me sometimes because it costs a lot of money to help a lot of people,” Varner said.
Pereira bogeyed each of his first two holes, opening the door for Varner to move back ahead. Varner followed his first birdie at No. 3 with his lone bogey of the day at No. 4, but he got one back with a birdie at the par-5 seventh.
Varner’s biggest shot of the day, though, was a hole-out for birdie from a greenside bunker at the par-4 11th. After Pereira got his third shot within 4 feet of the pin, Varner splashed his ball out and watched it roll straight downhill and into the cup.
Grace made a charge up the leaderboard with a bogey-free, 6-under 66. He started his day on the third hole and birdied two of his last three — Nos. 18 and 2 — to get to 11 under. So, Varner was forced to birdie his final hole to avoid a playoff.
Torque GC won the team competition with a combined score of 27 under for the week. David Puig of Spain shot a 66 and Sebastian Munoz of Colombia had a 70 along with Pereira’s 71 to contribute to Sunday’s score.
Torque beat the all-South African Stinger GC, led by captain Louis Oosthuizen, Grace and Charl Schwartzel. Stinger finished at 24 under.
–Field Level Media