'I Understand How Hard It Is' - Varner III On Using LIV Money To Help Others

New LIV Golf signing Harold Varner III was honest about his main motivation for joining the Saudi-backed Series in a statement he released after the announcement, with the American admitting that the financial incentive was too good to turn down.

That honesty drew plenty of praise, and, speaking ahead of his LIV Golf Invitational Series debut at The International in Boston, the 32-year-old was keen to reiterate that he intends to use the money for good, particularly with regards to his HV3 Foundation, which Varner III established to help make access to the game more affordable for young people. He said: “I understand how hard it is and I’m going to make it easier for a lot more people, that's it. Like that's what you're supposed to do.

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"I love this game and you know just because you can play it well doesn't mean you can like just say - just use it for whatever's important for you. I think you can learn so much from the game whether you make it on any tour or you just get to, you know, think about all the jobs where I'm playing this tournament and playing here and playing there. Think about all the avenues where golf can take and you who you can meet. Like, that's where it's at. I'm going to change that in my community for sure.”

However, while Varner III is keen to introduce more young people to golf via his foundation, he explained that he’s also focused on how the money will help him set up a solid base for his family – an incentive that he says was far greater than his achievements in 2022 to date. He said: "Yeah, this is my first year playing in every Major, so it was cool. But like I think it's way cooler making sure my kid doesn't have to worry about anything. That's about it."

Varner III has PGA Tour career earnings of over $10m. However, even without taking into consideration the sum he was likely paid to sign up for LIV Golf, that figure could be dwarfed by the prize money on offer. The Series has purses of $25m in each tournament in the regular season and a first prize of $4m for the winner of the individual event. A further $3m is then distributed among the four members of the winning team. Meanwhile, there are ambitious plans to expand the Series into a 14-tournament League next season, with $405m to play for over the course of the season.

Varner III is one of six new signings teeing it up in this week’s fourth Series event in Boston, alongside Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Tringale, Marc Leishman and Anirban Lahiri.