GREENSBORO — On an otherwise hushed opening Thursday around the Wyndham Championship, a couple of tournament volunteer workers couldn’t help but applaud and shout congratulations to Harold Varner III as he walked off the 18th green.
They broke the quiet for an appropriate reason.
Varner, the Gastonia native and former East Carolina standout, just had applied the finishing touches to an 8-under-par 62, tying his career-best round and climbing atop the leaderboard at mostly silent Sedgefield Country Club, where spectators aren’t permitted this week as part of coronavirus precautions.
“I hit it really well, just capitalized on the chances I got,” he said. “I had a lot of looks and that’s all you’re trying to do out here since you’ve got to shoot so low (to contend).”
Two days shy of his 30th birthday, Varner played bogey-free golf in grabbing a first-round share of the Wyndham lead. That sense of spotlessness became preserved by a two-putt from off the back of the No. 18 green, a downhill challenge measuring 65 feet.
At the end of an effort powered by eight birdies, that par save proved equally profitable to Varner.
“The biggest thing is the two-putt on 18,” he said, “just not giving it away when you've worked that hard.”
Tom Hoge and Roger Sloan delivered matching 62s and joined Varner in the lead. Hoge looked poised to crack 60 and shoot 59, one of golf’s fabled numbers, after eagling the par-5 15th hole and draining a chip for birdie a hole later.
That burst got Hoge to 9-under on the day and in sole possession of the lead with two holes remaining. But he made par on No. 17 and bogeyed No. 18, a finish that had Hoge muttering to himself as he left the green.
“It really wasn’t in my head at all until probably (No.) 17 tee, after I chipped in there on 16,” Hoge said of the possibility of a magical 59. “I knew it wasn’t really a realistic shot just because (Nos.) 17 and 18 are pretty difficult holes here coming in.”
Varner played 4-under-par on each side and collected birdies on six of his first 11 holes, though he parred No. 4, where a house near the green proudly displayed an East Carolina Pirates flag on its back porch.
He put together a string of four straight birdies across one stretch, depositing two to close the front nine and then two more to begin the back half of the round.
Varner, who has yet to win on the PGA Tour, had an opportunity to eclipse 60 on Thursday before Hoge’s chance came calling. That possibility materialized for Varner when he birdied the 15th hole to get to 8-under.
“I didn’t think about it at all,” Varner said. “Just trying to birdie every hole. You can go get it out here with the scoring, so I just knew that the gas pedal’s on the right.”
Harris English was alone in fourth position after posting 6-under 64. Patrick Reed, the former Masters champion and 2013 Wyndham winner, was part of an eight-player bunch at 5-under 65.
Former U.S. Open champion and 2011 Wyndham winner Webb Simpson, the Raleigh native and Wake Forest product, was among a logjam at 4-under 66.
Simpson recovered from a double bogey on the par-4 No. 13, his fourth hole of the day, during which he lost his tee shot out of bounds. He bounced back to birdie three of his next five holes, and reach the turn at 1-under.
“It’s a golf course where you can make a lot of birdies,” Simpson said, “so as hard as it is in the moment, you’ve just got to stay patient and I did that. I knew I had (No.) 15 coming up, birdie opportunities at (Nos.) 16 and 17. I was able to get those and turned in 1-under after being 2-over, so that was kind of good hanging in there for me.”
Meanwhile, the group featuring Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth — one of the marquee threesomes here with a combined eight major titles between them — flopped on Thursday.
Spieth shot even-par 70. Koepka (2-over) and Rose (3-over) were worse, putting them in danger of missing the cut following Friday’s second round.
“Pretty flat,” said Koepka, who bogeyed three of his final eight holes, and is playing an event for the sixth straight week.
This article originally appeared on Times-News: Shout about it: Varner’s opening statement breaks the Wyndham quiet
