Harold Varner III uses two eagles to take lead at LIV DC with PGA champion Brooks Koepka level par | Golf News

Harold Varner III takes two-shot lead after first spherical at LIV DC in Washington; PGA champion Brooks Koepka level par after taking pictures opening 72; defending Open champion Cameron Smith tied for third on 4 underneath; Varner searching for first LIV win and first win since February 2022

Harold Varner III of RangeGoats GC leads in Washington

Harold Varner III made two eagles en route to an eight-under 64 at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, DC, to take the first-round lead within the newest LIV Golf occasion.

Varner is two away from James Piot (six-under 66), with a gaggle tied for third at four-under 68 that includes Cameron Smith of Australia, Mito Pereira of Chile, Kevin Na and Andy Ogletree.

Varner opened his spherical with a bogey at the par-three fourth gap however shrugged it off shortly. After a birdie introduced him again to even, he made an eagle-two at the 317-yard, par-four ninth gap.

His second eagle got here 4 holes later at the par-five thirteenth gap. He adopted that with two birdies for a four-under run in three holes. He picked up birdies at the ultimate two par-fives (Nos 18 and three) to set the tempo.

Varner, 32, is searching for his first win on the Saudi-funded LIV circuit. He has had a fantastic profession to this point and tied for twenty ninth at each The Masters and the PGA Championship this season, however his final win got here in February 2022 at the Saudi International on the Asian Tour.

Piot and Ogletree are former US Amateur winners among the many youthful professionals hoping to make a mark within the PGA Tour’s upstart rival league. Piot had seven birdies and one bogey on Friday, whereas Ogletree had 5 birdies and one bogey.

Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed had been among the many names tied at three-under 69, whereas Bryson DeChambeau and Spain’s Sergio Garcia, amongst others, shot two-under 70.

Brooks Koepka, coming off his fifth profession main title on Sunday at the PGA Championship, opened with an even-par 72.

Phil Mickelson is in forty fourth place after a gap two-over 74.

Varner’s RangeGoats GC are tied with Iron Heads GC for the lead within the staff competitors at 10 underneath. Varner, Talor Gooch (70) and Belgium’s Thomas Pieters (72) had their scores depend for RangeGoats, whereas Iron Heads had been fuelled by captain Na, Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe (69) and Danny Lee of New Zealand (69).