FedExCup update: Wake-up call helps Harold Varner go low

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – A couple beers last Saturday and good conversation with those closest to him was enough to get Harold Varner III back in the right frame of mind.

He had a self-described “meltdown” earlier that day after flying the green with his approach shot to Sedgefield’s 11th hole in the third round of the Wyndham Championship. Don’t worry, there were no broken clubs. Just a bad attitude. But it was unacceptable to Varner.

“Having a bad attitude probably makes me more mad than … playing bad golf,” he said Thursday, after shooting a first-round 66 at THE NORTHERN TRUST. “That's the only thing you control. You don't really control what you're going to shoot or where your golf ball is going to end up, but you control how you approach each shot.”

Varner is alone in third place, three shots behind co-leaders Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm. Varner’s projected leap from 72nd to 24th is Thursday’s largest.

A good attitude was imperative Thursday at Liberty National, which was buffeted by inconsistent breezes. Varner countered with a hot putter. He gained approximately three strokes on the greens, and that doesn’t include the 22-footer he holed from the fringe on the fifth hole. That was a belated birthday gift for Varner, who celebrated his 31st birthday Sunday.

“That's a lot of … luck,” he said. “There was a clump of mud on one side of it. I was like, I'll just roll it down there, whatever, and ended up going in. Perfect pace.”

Varner has a good history at THE NORTHERN TRUST. He finished T3 here two years ago. At the time, it was the best finish of his PGA TOUR career (he bested that this season with his runner-up at the RBC Heritage).

His good result the last time THE NORTHERN TRUST was played in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty – he finished two back of winner Patrick Reed – had no impact on Varner’s play Thursday, however.

“That was in 2019. It's 2021. Do your job,” Varner said. “The biggest thing for me is … having a better attitude. That's what it comes down to, especially with the conditions like they are right now, windy.”

He shot 68 or lower in all four rounds here in 2019, which was good enough to skyrocket him from 102nd to 29th in the FedExCup standings. He didn’t stay in the top 30, however, after finishing second-to-last in the next Playoffs event, the BMW Championship.

He still finished a career-best 38th in the FedExCup that season. It’s the only time in his five FedExCup campaigns that he has advanced to the BMW.

Varner arrived at Liberty National ranked 72nd in this season’s standings. His runner-up at the Heritage is his lone top-10 thus far this season but his eight top-25s are one off his career high.

After one round at THE NORTHERN TRUST, Varner has put himself in position for his biggest FedExCup payday. With a baby boy due in October, some of that would undoubtedly go towards diapers.

NOTES: Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas share the first-round lead after shooting 63. They are projected to move to 1-2 in the standings, respectively, though that’s based on both receiving first-place points. Rahm is playing his first competitive round in a month after missing the Olympics with a positive COVID-19 test. He won the U.S. Open in his first start after testing positive at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. Thomas is trying to join his South Florida friends, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, on the short list of two-time FedExCup champions. This is the second time this season that Rahm and Thomas have shared the lead. They did after the second round of the 2020 Masters, as well, with Abraham Ancer, Cameron Smith and Dustin Johnson. … Adam Scott is near the top of the leaderboard again after Sunday’s heartbreaking loss at the Wyndham Championship, where he missed a 4-foot birdie putt for the win on the first playoff hole. Scott, who won at Liberty National in 2013 and finished fifth here in 2019. He is currently projected to move from 82nd to 48th in the standings. … Keith Mitchell rang the New York Stock Exchange’s closing bell Tuesday. Then he shot 68 on Thursday, which has him projected to move from 101st in the FedExCup to 66th, just inside the top-70 cut-off line for next week’s BMW Championship.

MOVING IN
Harry Higgs: 80th to 69th
Keith Mitchell: 101st to 66th
Erik van Rooyen: 76th to 65th
Andrew Putnam: 75th to 64th
Adam Scott: 82nd to 48th
Harold Varner III: 72nd to 24th

MOVING OUT
Shane Lowry: 66th to 71st
Tyrrell Hatton: 63rd to 73rd
Talor Gooch: 64th to 74th
Martin Laird: 65th to 75th
Troy Merritt: 69th to 80th
J.T. Poston: 70th to 81st