Harold Varner III (-13) made a walk-off eagle putt on the 72nd hole of the Saudi International on Sunday. Varner beat Bubba Watson (-12) by a stroke to lock up the second professional win of his career in 224 starts. the 31-year-old North Carolina native pulled out the most spectacular finish to claim the $1 million prize money.
Varner led going into the final round but was 1 over on the day when he stepped to the par-5 closing hole, one back of new leader Bubba Watson, who was in the house with a round-of-the-day 66. Nobody else on the board really made much noise, so it was only Watson that Varner III needed to tie with a birdie or somehow even leapfrog with an eagle on the finishing hole.
After two shots to the front of the green and facing what would have been a tough two-putt to get into a playoff with Watson, Varner III laid down the hammer of his life and celebrated like he meant it.
Varner was so elated, he posted this on his Twitter page:
That winning feeling ? @HV3_Golf#SaudiIntlGolf #SeeItAll pic.twitter.com/Kvri2O5DBK
— Saudi International | السعودية الدولية (@SaudiIntlGolf) February 6, 2022
PRIZE MONEY LIST:
Win: Harold Varner III, -13, $1,000,000
2: Bubba Watson, -12, $525,000
3: Adri Arnaus, -10, $300,000
T-4: Steve Lewton, -9, $217,500
T-4: Cameron Smith, -9, $217,500
T-6: Matthew Wolff, -8, $150,500
T-6: Pablo Larrazabal, -8, $150,500
T-8: Abraham Ancer, -7, $93,125
T-8: Jhonattan Vegas, -7, $93,125
T-8: Joaquin Niemann, -7, $93,125
T-8: Dustin Johnson, -7, $93,125
T-8: Tommy Fleetwood, -7, $93,125
T-8: Ryosuke Kinoshita, -7, $93,125
T-14: Shane Lowry, -6, $68,500
T-14: Takumi Kanaya, -6, $68,500
T-14: Brad Kennedy, -6, $68,500
17: Henrik Stenson, -5, $62,500
T-18: Phil Mickelson, -4, $57,166
T-18: Xander Schauffele, -4, $57,166
T-18: Wade Ormsby, -4, $57,166
T-21: Berry Henson, -3, $52,250
T-21: Lee Westwood, -3, $52,250
T-21: Lucas Herbert, -3, $52,250
T-24: Sergio Garcia, -2, $47,000
T-24: Thomas Pieters, -2, $47,000
T-24: Justin Harding, -2, $47,000
T-24: Paul Casey, -2, $47,000
T-28: Marc Leishman, -1, $38,100
T-28: Thongchai Jaidee, -1, $38,100
T-28: Sebastian Crampton, -1, $38,100
T-28: Tyrrell Hatton, -1, $38,100
T-28: Tony Finau, -1, $38,100
T-28: Rikuya Hoshino, -1, $38,100
T-28: Matteo Manassero, -1, $38,100
T-28: Bo Kim, -1, $38,100
T-28: Kevin Na, -1, $38,100
T-28: Phachara Kongwatmai, -1, $38,100
T-38: Laurie Canter, E, $29,785
T-38: Jaco Ahlers, E, $29,785
T-38: Jarin Todd, E, $29,785
T-38: Patrick Reed, E, $29,785
T-38: Gavin Green, E, $29,785
T-38: Jovan Rebula, E, $29,785
T-45: Joohyung Kim, +1, $24,625
T-45: Andrew Dodt, +1, $24,625
T-45: Jason Kokrak, +1, $24,625
T-45: Todd Baek, +1, $24,625
T-45: JC Ritchie, +1, $24,625
T-45: Rattanon Wannasrichan, +1, $24,625
T-51: Shubhankar Sharma, +2, $20,750
T-51: Paul Peterson, +2, $20,750
T-53: Victor Perez, +3, $19,000
T-53: Ian Poulter, +3, $19,000
T-55: Viraj Madappa, +4, $17,750
T-55: Rashid Khan, +4, $17,750
T-55: Daniel Hillier, +4, $17,750
T-55: Louis James Dobbelaar, +4, $17,750
T-59: Sadom Kaewkanjana, +5, $15,500
T-59: Sihwan Kim, +5, $15,500
T-59: Rafa Cabrera Bello, +5, $15,500
T-59: Richard T. Lee, +5, $15,500
T-59: Panuphol Pittayarat, +5, $15,500
T-64: Bjorn Hellgren, +6, $13,250
T-64: Yoseop Seo, +6, $13,250
T-64: Miguel Carballo, +6, $13,250
T-64: Hongtaek Kim, +6, $13,250
T-68: Poom Saksansin, +8, $11,500
T-68: Eduard Rousaud, +8, $11,500
T-68: Shiv Kapur, +8, $11,500
71: Ratchanon Chantananuwat (a), +10, Amateur
72: Yikeun Chang, +12, $10,500
73: Ryo Hisatsune, +14, $10,000
74: Suradit Yongcharoenchai, +15, $9,500
