Harold Varner III claims there is jealousy over LIV Golf: "It's human nature"
Harold Varner III has reflected on his first season with LIV Golf after leaving the PGA Tour, insisting in Miami he definitely senses people are envious.
Harold Varner III claimed the media is doing a "great job" of making it seem like there is a lot of jealousy in the game involving LIV Golf after the first day of the $50m team championship in Miami.
Varner is having an interesting 2022. First he claimed he was not leaving the PGA Tour, insisting that a brief chat with basketball legend Michael Jordan helped persuade him of his future path.
Then, after an expletive-laden conversation with his wife, Varner eventually decided to join the breakaway tour. He was one of several players who changed their mind.
Related: Ian Poulter to Kevin Na: "F you, basically!"
That being said, Varner drew plaudits from commentators, fans and fellow professional golfers on both sides of the divide for his honesty in explaining his decision.
It was for the money.
And Varner claimed that it would "hurt" knowing that some of his fans might look at him differently because the mega-money series has faced accusations of sportswashing.
"I'm still me," Varner said of that.
In recent weeks, Varner also pushed back on other LIV players' gripes about world-ranking points.
Varner, 32, is now part of the Niblicks GC side comprising of Hudson Swafford, Turk Pettit and James Piot.
They didn't advance to the semi-finals at Trump National Doral, although Varner did scalp Brooks Koepka - who got emotional in Jeddah - with a 4&3 victory.
Speaking to the media immediately afterwards, Varner claimed he will now spend his time off doing what he loves.
Hunting and playing golf. He won't crunch the numbers practicing: "I'll play".
He was also asked this question:
And he replied:
Asked if LIV Golf was a different kind of fun to life on the PGA Tour, he added:
The team championship in Miami will conclude on Sunday, bringing to an end LIV's inaugural $255m season, of which Bryson DeChambeau has described as a "beta test".
In 2023, the schedule will expand to 14 stops globally, with $405m being given away in prize money.
Oh, and there'll likely be a few more additions.
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Ben joined the GolfMagic team in September 2021, initially as a content executive.
These days, he assumes the position of content manager.
