Harold Varner III drains HUGE eagle putt at 72nd hole to win Saudi International
Harold Varner III needed a birdie to force a playoff but drained a massive eagle putt to snatch the win at the Saudi International by one stroke.
Harold Varner III drained a huge eagle putt at the 72nd hole to snatch a landmark victory at the Saudi International.
It looked like the title and the $900,000 winner's cheque was destined to be heading towards Bubba Watson.
Watson, 43, carded a 6-under final round to snatch the clubhouse lead at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club to pile the pressure on Varner III.
The left-hander also made an eagle and a birdie in his final two holes after seemingly coming out of nowhere on the final day.
Varner III looked as if he was going to have to lament a frustrating double bogey at the 14th which looked like it put an end to his chances.
But a birdie at 17 meant that he needed a birdie to force a playoff with the two-time Masters champion. Instead, he drained his eagle putt.
UNBELIEVABLE SCENES!
Harold Varner III drains a massive putt from off the front edge for eagle and wins the Saudi International by one shot over Bubba Watson! pic.twitter.com/yjoybZE3nA— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) February 6, 2022
Varner III let out a massive roar in celebration and embraced his caddie. He has never won on the PGA Tour.
The 31-year-old has won on the European Tour before. That victory came at the Australian PGA Championship in 2016.
A 1-under par final round of 69 at the par-70 lay out was enough to get the job done. He had also signed for rounds of 64, 66 and 68.
Elsewhere, England's Steve Lewton was a surprise package and finished inside the top five after finishing at 9-under par for the week.
Cameron Smith joined him on the same score. Matthew Wolff, Tommy Fleetwood and Dustin Johnson finished inside the top 10.
— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) February 6, 2022
Final leaderboard
H. Varner III -13
B. Watson -12
A. Arnaus -10
S. Lewton -9
C. Smith -9
P. Larrazabal -8
M. Wolff -8
A. Ancer -7
T. Fleetwood -7
D. Johnson -7
R. Kinoshita -7
J. Niemann -7
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Saudi International prize purse, winner's share
1. $900,000
2. $550,000
3. $315,000
4. $250,000
5. $205,000
6. $166,500
7. $142,500
8. $122,500
9. $107,000
10. $95,500
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