Home-state Harold Varner Opens With 62 At Wyndham

Harold Varner III is a North Carolina guy through and through.

He grew up in Gastonia, about two hours from Greensboro, went to school at East Carolina, about two hours from Greensboro.

It’s no surprise he feels comfortable at Sedgefield Country Club and as a result, he went low on Thursday, shooting an eight-under par 62 to grab a piece of the first round lead at the Wyndham Championship.

Varner went out early and got to eight-under with three holes to play.  Three birdies to finish and he could have shot the magic “59.”   But the number never occurred to him.

“Dang, I wish I would have,” he said afterward. “I didn’t think about it at all. Just trying to birdie every hole. You can go get it out here, obviously, with the scores, so I just knew that, you know, the gas pedal is on the right.”

Varner knows he needs to keep the pedal to the floor — winning score last year was 22-under par.

Varner’s lead didn’t hold up.  After his morning effort, two more players came in to tie him.  Tom Hoge had it nine-under with just one hole to play but took a bogey on the final hole for 62 while Canadian Roger Sloan scored another 62 in the afternoon.

Scoring was low on a calm, hot and humid day but not everyone had a good time.

Brooks Koepka, 92nd on the FedEx points list, put himself in danger of missing the cut after opening with a two-over par  72.  Koepka is playing for the sixth straigh week and described himself as “tired” and “flat” on day one.  “Even if I gain one spot in the FedEx, it makes it that much easier for next week, so you’ve got to play, to see where you’re at,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever played more than four in a row pretty much out here. It will be quite a long stretch, but I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do.”

Justin Rose was a shot higher at 73 and finds himself way down the points list as well.

Pre-tournament favorite Webb Simpson opened with 66.  Defending champion J.T. Poston will probably not repeat.  He struggled to a 74.

Wyndham Scoreboard:

Firestone Proves Tough At Senior Players:

Famous Firestone Country Club in Akron lost its PGA Tour stop to Memphis (thanks FedEx) and to make up for it, there’s a senior major on site this week — The Senior Players Championship.

Firestone was tough on the over-50 set.  Two-under 68 represented the first-round lead with five players tied at the top.

Miguel Angel Jimenez, who holds the record for the most starts on the European Tour, finds himself as a co-leader along with Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker, Rod Pampling, Jerry Kelly and Wes Short Jr.

Only six players in the field were under par at Englishman Paul Broadhurst was alone at 69.

Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer were among five players at even par 70.

Senior Players Scoreboard:

Zach Johnson Honored With Payne Stewart Award:

The PGA Tour announced on Wednesday that Zach Johnson is the recipient of the 2020 Payne Stewart award.

The award began in 2000 after Stewart, a three-time major champion, perished in a freak plane accident on the way to the Tour Championship. As it enters its second decade, the award now is regarded as the most prestigious on the PGA Tour.

Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus shared the award the first year. Since then, past winners include Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk and Ernie Els, Davis Love III and Nick Price. It goes to the player who best exemplifies Stewart’s value of character, charity and sportsmanship.

‘It makes everything I’ve done on and off the golf course worth it,” Johnson said. ”It makes everything whole and complete.”

Johnson, 44, is the first winner who has never met Stewart.  Stewart died five years before Johnson’s rookie year.