Kurt Kragthorpe: Web.com Tour star Varner seeks identity beyond ‘black golfer’

Lehi

The golfer possessing some of the strongest credentials to fill what the legendary Gary Player cited as a major need in the game stood outside the scoring tent Saturday evening and rolled his eyes.

Harold Varner III fully intends to succeed on the PGA Tour, and he's almost there. So it hardly was surprising that his name would surface after Player recently addressed Tiger Woods' demise by saying, "We need a black champion."

Player's thoughts seemingly were well intended, suggesting that a great golfer of color can inspire a broader audience and attract more people to the game. Varner is not so sure. "Do we need it? I think the game's going to be fine, regardless," he said. And the subject simply is not something that's driving him, as an African-American golfer.

"That doesn't pertain to me," said Varner, who's competing this weekend in the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank. "That's not my job. That's not my goal. My goal is just to be on the PGA Tour for 20 years, not be the 'black golfer' that was on the PGA Tour for 20 years."

Growing up in North Carolina, Varner comfortably blended into the mixed fabric of a municipal golf course. He was raised to be colorblind, in an enlightened sense.

And he's likely to make the PGA Tour in October. After shooting a third-round 68, Varner is tied for 17th place at Thanksgiving Point. He's projected to remain 19th on the Web.com Tour money list after Sunday's final round, with about $150,000. The top 25 players in the regular season will earn PGA Tour membership, and another 25 cards are awarded via the four-tournament finals.

This guy will be a welcome addition to the PGA Tour, in multiple ways. From a distance, I've been hoping he would succeed in golf for the sake of diversity — reflecting Player's attitude, I guess. After being around him this week, I'm convinced he'll be good for the game just because of who he is.

Varner might even be "a wonderful soul," as Paul Pugmire introduced him during a clinic Friday at Golf in the Round in South Salt Lake. Pugmire, executive director of The First Tee of Utah, served as a walking scorer with Varner's group last summer at Willow Creek Country Club and bonded with him. As a teenager, Varner teamed with Champions Tour veteran Morris Hatalsky to win the First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, so the event was a natural fit.

Varner described Friday's session as "an awesome experience," after fielding questions from young golfers. They wanted to know standard stuff: His age (24), his age when he first swung a club (2), his college (East Carolina), his favorite club (putter), and his favorite golfers (Harold Varner Jr. and Tiger Woods). Even with that diverse group, nothing came up about Varner's being a black golfer — and he didn't go in that direction, either. That's just not his game. He hopes to become an equal-opportunity source of inspiration to young people.

And for him, it never has been about overcoming something, proving anyone wrong or anything else related to not fitting the traditional profile of a PGA Tour player.

"It's interesting, especially in the sport I'm playing," Varner said. But "I don't ever use it as a crutch. I have some friends that do. My dad just told me, you want to be the best you can be. He never said you want to be the best black golfer. That's kind of weird, I would think."

Varner idolized Woods, just because Tiger was Tiger, the best golfer of his generation. "I'm attracted to greatness," he said. "How would I not be?"

As Varner told The First Tee audience, he watched what Tiger did and said to himself, "Why can't I do that?"

And now he's doing it. He got over wishing he could be taller — "If I was 6-5," he said, "I'd be playing basketball somewhere" — and at 5-9, he's one of the Web.com Tour's longest drivers.

Like a lot of golfers at this level, he appears ticketed for big things in the game. A boy of about 5 years old interrupted our interview to ask Varner his name. "Harold," he said.

"Remember that name," I said.

Varner just smiled.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribkurt