For love or money? Harold Varner III thinks there's a clear answer.
LIV Golf's Varner is a PGA Tour defector, joining the startup golf circuit in 2022 for a reported $15 million signing bonus. While Varner's contract status is unclear, the golfer makes one thing very clear: It's all about the money.
In a lengthy profile published by The Washington Post, Varner made it clear that all parties involved in golf's ongoing civil war, from players to the PGA Tour to LIV Golf, are only focused on the money — everything else is window dressing.
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"They’re full of s—; they’re growing their pockets," Varner says about LIV Golf's "growing the game" claims. "I tell them all the time, all of them: 'You didn’t come here to f—ing grow the f—ing game.'"
Varner, though, makes it abundantly clear that the PGA Tour is simply upset that LIV Golf may be cutting into their bottom line, as well.
"They’re just mad that you’re f—ing with their money. I think some people are jealous, and that’s just the way it is," he said. … "The Tour has made it where they say it’s not about the money. I don’t care what anyone says. It’s about the damn money"
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It's not the first time that Varner has been upfront about the money. When he signed with LIV Golf in 2022, he made it abundantly clear that the "eight-figure direct deposit" he received was life-changing money — as is his prerogative.
LIV Golf has thrown big money at plenty of the PGA Tour's stars over the last year, from Varner to Phil Mickelson to Cameron Smith and Dustin Johnson. Some, like Bryson DeChambeau, have been outward with their appreciation of the new money.
This week, LIV Golf players tee it up at the Masters, with 18 LIV players playing for more than just the "growth of the game" or bragging rights — that is, if Varner is to be believed.
