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WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN


January 31, 2019


Harold Varner III


Scottsdale, Arizona

Q. Great round. You had some chances there to get to minus 8.
HAROLD VARNER III: Yeah, I played well, I drove it really well and had a lots of opportunities and I'm just excited to be playing here, I love this event.

Q. Guys have been talking about the firmness of the greens and if you hit it in the rough it's really hard to keep it by the flag stick. If you put it in the fairway you have a chance. Did you feel that way?
HAROLD VARNER III: Yeah, the times I hit it in the rough it was obviously hard to get it close, but there's a lot of fairways out there, so that's what I think. Yeah, I don't really think much of it, I don't carry a yardage book, I let my caddie figure all that out.

Q. Take me through 16. Great stadium there. You have a 31-footer, I don't know if you heard them yelling at you that it was going to break or not, I don't know if you hear any of that stuff. Take me through the putt and the roar and the dab.
HAROLD VARNER III: Just brings back a lot of great memories on the dab and just, I mean, I love entertaining people and what better hole to do it. But like when the ball's rolling I can't hear anything. But when it goes in I'm pretty excited, pretty thrilled.

Q. Obviously a great start, Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas. Pretty good company at the top of the leaderboard.
HAROLD VARNER III: Yeah, I haven't really looked at it but, yeah, I would like to be around those guys, they're pretty good golfers.

Q. 7-under. What went well for you today?
HAROLD VARNER III: I just drove it really well and obviously made some, I made two bombs today and just, things I've been doing a lot, this whole year, so it's just nice to see a low one in there. But it's the first day, I'm just enjoying myself. I'm going to go play a little bit of Call of Duty and get ready for tomorrow.

Q. 16 ever get old?
HAROLD VARNER III: No. I think that is the coolest thing about this tournament obviously and I've always embraced it. I think that it's a great way to grow the game and if I wasn't playing golf, I wasn't in this tournament, there would be a really good chance that I would be somewhere in there.

Q. Was that a preplanned move or was that like spontaneous?
HAROLD VARNER III: I was thinking about it as I was walking down there. But it just brings back good memories from when the Panthers were in the Super Bowl, so I need them to get back in there so I can do that again.

Q. What did you do at 16?
HAROLD VARNER III: I dabbed.

Q. Oh, again.
HAROLD VARNER III: Oh, all day.

Q. Did you put on the Newton jersey?
HAROLD VARNER III: No, that would be awesome. Rough year, but we'll figure it out.

Q. You have JT, Rickie tied for the lead, they're both staying in a house together, but then HV-III comes in the afternoon and kind of spoils the party. How does it feel to do that?
HAROLD VARNER III: I didn't spoil anything, the tournament's not over, we're just starting. But I'm sure they're having fun, they're awesome guys, but we'll compete, I hope I get paired with them on Sunday late. That would be really cool.

Q. Do they have like credits or something at Call of Duty, anything you can buy with some of that money?
HAROLD VARNER III: No, no. You just get on there and you play blackout. It so much fun, you drop in there and you try to kill everyone, it's just -- I got a win last night, that's what I was really pumped about.

Q. Do you win often or not?
HAROLD VARNER III: No, I'm terrible. But I play with good people.

Q. Which Call of Duty?
HAROLD VARNER III: I don't know the name. It's the newest one.

Q. World War I or II?
HAROLD VARNER III: I literally don't know the name of it, it's the newest one that just came out and they have a blackout mode that's like Fortnite, but like you can't build all the stuff, so it's, I'm going to go play a little bit.

Q. Has Gerald always been a 3-wood cover or did he get stronger per pound?
HAROLD VARNER III: No, he's been a 3-wood cover since 2013. My teammate in college was caddieing for me in Raleigh and he went to like a teacher store I guess like the week prior and --

Q. But he was never a driver cover?
HAROLD VARNER III: No, no, it's actually a puppet. It doesn't fit on a driver. I wish it did, that would be kind of cool.

Q. Your putting has obviously been pretty good the last, pretty much this whole season. What's really changed from last season to now? Anything you worked on specifically with that?
HAROLD VARNER III: Probably worked a little bit harder. I don't know. I don't know, I got a putter I like. I guess that helps. It's an Odyssey I've been using since Greenbrier. Those guys know what they're doing, I just trust them on the equipment side and just do my job, like just do the hard work, just work on doing something every day where I get to practice perfection. That's like where my eyes are on this mirror, that's been pretty good, we take it one day at a time.

Q. Are you a mallet or blade guy?
HAROLD VARNER III: Mallet. I only played for a blade for like three months. I putted unbelievable with it and then I putted bad and went back to a mallet. So you can putt with anything if you just have the right attitude.

Q. How do you keep from staying up too late tonight playing video games, make sure you're ready for tomorrow?
HAROLD VARNER III: Easy, put the game down and go to sleep. It's business. Those games don't get me paid yet, I ain't that good.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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