LIV Golf Pro Harold Varner III gains strong support from Dustin Johnson amid DWI fiasco
After Harold Varner III was involved in a DWI incident a few weeks ago, he needed a bit of a morale boost. He recently got it in the form of some praise from Dustin Johnson, another LIV Golf member and his team's captain. Varner joined 4Aces this year and Johnson recently gave him a few compliments.
Johnson said that he believes Varner's arrival on his LIV team will only make the team "stronger". 4Aces finished atop the team leaderboard in LIV Golf in 2023 and is looking to repeat the feat.
Johnson was quoted as saying according to EssentiallySports:
"We’ve got a really solid team. Harold makes us just as strong, if not stronger. We’re definitely the team that everybody’s coming after."
Johnson's team has full faith in the embattled golfer to be the difference and take them to new heights as a club.
Harold Varner II and teammates open up on trade
With the new trading system in LIV Golf, players can switch teams fairly frequently. They can move as free agents or be traded, and that's what happened with Harold Varner III's arrival at 4Aces.
4Aces swapped out Peter Uihlein for Varner. While the move was surprising to some, Uihlein had a good rapport with his new captain and Johnson and Varner are friends.
Johnson said via the LIV website:
“Pete’s obviously a really good player. Me and Harold are good friends, and he’s a great player. When you look on paper, I would say they’re fairly even-matched players. We never thought about trading. It just worked out that way.”
Varner also opened up on the trade and what he expects from his new team that has repeat championship aspirations.
“I think it's going to be very dog-eat-dog, which is good. I don't know if it'll be different, but it would just be more of like a let's-play-good vibe, which is totally cool with me,” Varner said.
Patrick Reed, one of the 4Aces team members, also gave Varner some praise amidst the tough times he's having. He said:
“He’s going to be a great addition. He brings more, I would say, a ‘louder’ part to our team. But at the same time, I know how hard Harold works and wants to go out and win. I feel like that’s something that’s been good for us and kind of fits our mode.”
Reed also said that any 4Aces member from 2023 would admit that they underperformed despite winning. He says they didn't play as they needed to in a team sense and that they're looking to prove themselves in 2024.
“I feel like last year was a fluke for our guys and our team and that the first year was kind of more of who we are. This year, we’re more determined to get back to that,” he added.
Johnson himself is looking for some improvement, both in terms of team and individual performance. The addition of Varner is what he and his teammates believe will put them over the top and bring them into dynastic territory if they can keep winning at this rate.