Harold Varner III wins the Saudi International in sensational style after Bubba Watson charge
- Matt Cooper
- 6 February 2022
The American holed a dramatic final hole eagle putt to confirm the biggest victory of his career.
Harold Varner III has had his problems winning on the PGA Tour, but after dramatically claiming the Saudi International he may have found the secret of success.
The American is a past winner of the Australian PGA Championship, but victory has eluded him on his home circuit.
His triumph at Royal Greens does not change that situation, but after the tournament paid a large proportion of the field significant appearance money to travel from the States, he will know that he has finally defeated high quality opposition.
Moreover, he did so having slept on the 54 hole lead, having endured final round difficulties, and he completed the win with a remarkable 120-foot eagle putt on the par-5 final hole.
The dramatic eagle putt that sealed the victory for Harold Varner III ⛳😍@SaudiIntlGolf @HV3_Golf #SaudiIntlGolf #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/1RIAI4jIaW
— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) February 6, 2022
Before then Varner III had tussled with his playing partners Adri Arnaus and Tommy Fleetwood at the top of the leaderboard, but as they dropped away, Bubba Watson emerged in the wing mirror.
He carded a brilliant final round of 6-under-par 64 to set an imposing clubhouse target of 12-under 268.
When Varner made double bogey at the 14th and bogey at 16 he was suddenly two shots behind Watson's tally.
He birdied the 17th and needed to repeat the trick to force extra holes. He did better than that with a double breaking effort that dropped neatly into the cup and prompted scenes of ecstasy from the World No. 99 and is caddie.
Watson, a close friend of Varner, was among the first to congratulate him, saying: "I thought I had a great chance, but obviously he pulled out a shot better than me to win. It was a crazy back nine and a fun back nine."
"Awesome," gasped Varner. "I'm just trying to take it in. Winning just never gets old. I just know that there's been times where it just didn't go my way and today it did. I'm super thrilled not just for myself, but everyone that's either on my team or in my corner.
"They know who they are so I don't have to thank them. They know who they are. My mom's already called. Yeah, I'm pumped."
