LIV GOLF DALLAS

June 27, 2025

Harold Varner

Patrick Reed

Maridoe Golf Club

4Aces GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Please welcome to the LIV Golf Dallas media center, the 4Aces duo of Harold Varner III and Patrick Reed. You each shot 5-under 67s today, playing in the same group, to grab a share of the first-round lead. Was it a matter of feeding off each other as teammates today?

HAROLD VARNER III: For sure. I want to beat him, even though he's a teammate. It's a lot of fun. It got awkward when he chipped in on the par-5 and I made par. That's when I knew it was going to be fun. Yeah, that's what you want, and I guess we get to do it again tomorrow.

PATRICK REED: I mean, I felt like I was behind him all day and really just kind of trying to feed off of him. Harold is out there playing some solid golf, hitting some quality golf shots. It's always nice when you're seeing that because you can feed off of it. He really was making some quality putts and quality iron shots there, and obviously it was a bonus chipping in there for eagle on 2.

At that point, all I was really thinking about on the last hole was to try and make that putt and clip him. Unfortunately it stayed a little high and he gave me a gift.

Q. DJ is also in the top 10. You guys are leading by five shots, searching for that first win since 2023. What's the team room been like this year?

PATRICK REED: Yeah, the team room has been fine. The golf aspect of it has just kind of been too up and down. You'll have one or two guys play really well one day and then one or two of the guys don't quite have it and then it flips the next day and things like that.

I feel like right now the team is playing really solid. We know TP will bounce back. His game actually looks pretty solid for the most part.

The biggest thing is keep the throttle down. Even though we have a lead now, start tomorrow as if everyone is even par and try to go win the day as a team and build on the lead and just keep going.

Q. Harold, from your standpoint, from a team perspective, obviously you haven't had a chance to celebrate one of their wins yet. How much would it mean to be on the winning team for the Aces this week?

HAROLD VARNER III: Yeah, it would be a lot of fun. Selfishly, I think it would be really fun if I won one of these tournaments. I think everyone on our team is thinking that. You can only take care of what you can do, and that's yourself playing well. So don't get caught up in the team thing, thinking about this or that.

The team camaraderie in the locker room, I think we're having a lot of fun, maybe too much fun. I've never worried about that. That's easy. I think I can get along with a few people, especially this guy.

Golf is just golf. At the end of the day, that's going to be there. When we leave this earth, some people will still be playing golf. That's whatever. But the relationships that I've built in this team have been something I'll have the rest of my life.

I think that's more important. The golf part is easy. No one is going to die. We're all well off. We get to take care of things we want to take care of. That's easy. If you have a problem, try to fix it, work at it when you feel like you're doing something wrong.

It's the same thing, I think, when you guys ask us, though, it's just beating a dead horse. I play golf because it's fun. I'm going to play it whether I play on this tour or whatever tour. I'm going to play at home. I play golf probably every day in my break. It's my favorite thing to do.

Q. Patrick, you've played 25, 30 professional tournaments in the state of Texas, obviously you were born here, live here. Do you remember the last time you've won a tournament in Texas, and what would it mean to win this week?

PATRICK REED: Well, junior golf probably. It's been a while. But no, it would mean a lot, obviously, to win in your home state. But really to me, honestly, it doesn't matter where it is. Winning a golf tournament is winning a golf tournament. The adrenaline and that feeling of standing up on stage and hoisting that trophy is an amazing feeling. It doesn't really matter where you're at or anything like that.

But doing it in my home state would be special for sure. But we've got a long way to go, got 36 holes left. So really go out there and compete with this guy, hopefully feed off each other again tomorrow and keep pushing up that leaderboard and hopefully dragging the other two Aces with us, have them keep on climbing, and like I said, win the day tomorrow and then go out Sunday and win the day again.

Q. You guys' really last great team performance was at this golf course. What about Maridoe do you think suits your team's strengths?

PATRICK REED: Really, I feel like you have to really think your way around here. You have to have control of your golf ball. You have to hit it well and work it both ways. You can't sit up there and be one-dimensional and hit one shot every time. You have to hit different shots and be creative.

I'd say the other three guys on my team, they hit it really well, and it seems like for me when I start hitting the ball well is when I have to actually hit a golf shot, not thinking about swing but actually have to work it both ways and manufacture it rather than sit there and take a full swing at everyone.

Q. You can't really meow it around out here, can you?

HAROLD VARNER III: Well done, my son.

Q. Harold, did you sense something on the range this morning, that this was out there for you? And what was working well?

HAROLD VARNER III: I did not, actually. I just thought I was going to play well. I didn't really know how I was going to -- I think every day I tee it up I'm going to play well. I've been hitting it unbelievable this whole year and I just happened to make a couple putts today. I don't think there's like a genie in a bottle or anything like that. But I felt like I was going to play well.

Q. Assess each other's play today, what you saw from each other.

HAROLD VARNER III: I saw the best chip, worst putt ever. If you were watching today, he hit whatever iron on this par-5 and it was on the heel -- did anyone see the shot? No, so let me explain it.

He's sitting like this and the green is sitting like this and over the green it'll go on the next tee box, be like 50 yards away. So he chips it, somehow shim mys it through the rough misses the bunker and it goes to four feet and he misses the putt. But it was the best chip, best shot I saw -- it will be the best shot in all of golf on this golf course this week, without a doubt, and you guys didn't see it. That's even better. So yeah, it was sick. I don't have anything else to talk about.

PATRICK REED: I mean, it was awesome to finally see Harold kind of get a score out of the round where I felt like he should have been around. I've played with him a lot this year where he goes out and you sit there and you start scratching your head, like how did you shoot that, because he's hitting the ball great and just a couple putts here and there, burning edges rather than going in. Today to be able to see the putter make some putts and go in, it was good to see. He's hitting it well enough this year to continue to compete, and today I feel like finally the score added up to how he should have been playing all year.

HAROLD VARNER III: That's the nicest thing he's ever said about me.