Harold Varner III Steals Opening Day Show As PGA Tour Returns

Last week Harold Varner The Third wrote eloquently and gave the golf world and the country, a thinking man’s response to the the killing of George Floyd.

On a steamy Thursday afternoon in Fort Worth, Harold The Third stole the first round show at Colonial Country Club by letting his golf clubs do the talking.

And those clubs spoke volumes.

The long-awaited return of the PGA Tour got underway at 6:50 a.m., Fort Worth time, when Colonial members Ryan Palmer and J.J. Henry launched the opening tee shots — Palmer from the first tee, Henry from the 10th.

Justin Rose stood tallest among the morning wave.  Rose, who broke free of his equipment contract with Honma a few months ago, put most of his old TaylorMades back in the bag and looked flawless on the way to his 63.  It was probably the highest score he could have shot, he had so many good looks a birdie.  His performance was a harbinger of things to come as this eager field went on a birdie rampage.  By day’s end, 56 players shot 68 (two-under) or better with a total of 77 players in red numbers.

This grand old course, age 84, was in perfect shape.  Scoring conditions were inviting all day with receptive greens and only a hint of a breeze in the Texas heat.

Looked like Rose’s number would hold up until Varner worked his way to six-under through 12 holes.  At that point, he had six holes to find three more birdies and tie the tournament record (61).  While the temperature stayed hot, Varner cooled a bit and rattled off five straight pars.  Looked pretty much like he’d join a group of four players at 64 that included Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa.

But Varner hit a really nice approach into 18, within 11 feet of the hole.  He drained it and stepped into the spotlight  with Rose.

“Just playing golf,” was how Harold put it.  “Good to be out there, everything obviously worked today.”

Varner looked calm and composed the entire round.  He was reminded about last week’s letter but he was more excited about his day at Colonial.

He outplayed the biggest names in golf on opening day.  The group of the world’s top three — Rory McIlroy (1), Jon Rahm (2) and Brooks Koepka (3) had a yawner of an afternoon.  McIlroy and Koepka shot 68s and that left them tied for 39th while Rahm’s 18th hole bogey gave him 69, tied for 58th.

It was a strange setting all day — no fans, a lot of quiet.  You could hear nearby traffic on the streets and turtle doves cooing in the trees.  No need for those “Quiet Please” paddles.

Rickie Fowler wore a mic but he didn’t have a lot to say most of the day — shooting 73 will silence the best of ’em and that’s what Rickie signed for at the end of the day.

Three names close to the lead that you couldn’t help but notice were Bryson DeChambeau, Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele (65s for all three).  Bulked up DeChambeau drove the cover off the ball while Spieth looked the way he used to look a few short years ago.  As for Schauffele, he’s simply a threat to win any time he shows up.

Not all the big names appeared ready for this return.

Dustin Johnson looked like a sleep-walker on his way to 71.  Matt Kuchar didn’t beat him, tied him.  Defending champion Kevin Na won’t be repeating this week.  Opening with 72 will make sure of that.  Webb Simpson stumbled his way to 73.

As the sun made its way west, by day’s end, everything went well.

Players gave each other air fist-bumps in lieu of handshakes.

Everyone looked safe and they should — every player and caddie in the field tested negative for the Corona Virus.

So in spite of everything, golf is finally back.

It was a great day all-around — especially for the PGA Tour and Harold The Third.

First Round Scores: