Harold Varner III: Not the Next Tiger Woods

The 2015-16 PGA TOUR season is still in the wee stages of the year long schedule, but the Fall Swing was exciting enough to get us pumped for the 2016 year. Out of the eight tournaments that have taken place, we’ve already seen six first-time winners on TOUR and five of them were rookies.

The young guns have definitely made the game of golf exciting again and helped many golf fans move on from missing the excitement of Tiger Woods’ glory days. It’s hard to keep up with all of the rookies that are emerging in the game, so it’s always nice to recognize one of them when they do in fact win.

Harold Varner III is one of the many rookies new to the scene this season after locking up his PGA TOUR card by placing 25th on the Web.com Tour money list. Varner earned his card by only $943.37.

He’s also the first African American to qualify for the PGA TOUR through the Web.com Tour, making him one of the only black golfers on the TOUR next to Tiger. But don’t get it twisted, Varner doesn’t want to be the next Tiger Woods.

"“No disrespect to Tiger, but I just want to be me…I get tired of well-meaning people saying Varner is the only black kid out there on tour. Why can’t I just be a kid?”"

He may be the only golfer in America who doesn’t want to be Tiger, but you gotta respect his determination to make a name for himself and he’s already started to do just that.

Varner is known for his distance off the tee, averaging 312.9 yards off the tee on the Web.com Tour in 2015. That was good enough to put him in fourth on the tour and would have ranked fifth on the PGA TOUR, all at 5 ft, 8 in.

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The rookie found himself in contention in his first start of the season at the Frys.com Open in October after opening rounds of 65-70-69, but made some rookie mistakes in the final round an finished with a 79.

He would make up for it a few starts later at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. Opening with 70-62-68, Harry used his previous experiences to help him close out strong with 70. His efforts were good enough to place him tied for fifth.

Recently, Varner found himself in contention yet again at the Australian PGA thanks to a third round 66. However, he couldn’t survive Sunday and carded a 75 to drop into a three-way playoff. The rookie ultimately fell short, but still found himself in good spirits.

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He continues to find himself in contention early on in his PGA TOUR career. Once he figures out how to close out on Sundays, Varner will quickly become one of the popular sleeper picks throughout the season. His maiden victory will come soon enough.

Ever more interesting than his golf game is Harry Varner III’s journey to the big leagues. His father was a car salesman and would drop him off at the local municipal course on the way to work. Varner III worked on his golf  game all day and made the team at East Carolina.

On his first day as a freshman, he told his coach Press McPhaul that he wanted to play on the TOUR, a dream Varner never doubted. When Adam Schupak of Golfweek asked Varner if he thought it was a longshot, Harold responded:

"“Honestly? Hell, no. I knew I was going to make it. It might sound arrogant, but people that are very successful at things believe that it is going to work out.”"

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Varner was signed by Srixon earlier in the year and they have just made the decision to extend his contract with them. Probably a smart move on their part.