Harold Varner III has revealed that Tiger Woods sent a message to his dying friend just before he won the 2019 Masters.
Initially, Varner III had been asked what he recalls of Woods’ 1997 Masters win, to which the American responded: “Great question. It's 25 years. I remember nothing. I wasn't watching it. I was 6 years old. You know, I just wasn't watching at the time.” However, even though the 31-year-old has no recollection of Woods’ first ever Masters victory, he’s unlikely to forget his last Augusta National win – and not just because of what happened on the course.
“I tell everyone the most important one that I've ever seen that I watched and I didn't even watch all of it was 2019. Just because my best friend - he sent a note to my best friend the Wednesday before, and he was dying, and my really good friend basically said he was going to win on his birthday, and Sunday was his birthday, and, yeah, it was nuts. That's the most important one to me.”
Varner III went on to explain why he thinks Woods, who will play in The Masters as he returns from injury following a car accident, is the greatest of all time. He said: “Obviously, race plays a part of it, but at the end of the day he is one of the best players, and I've always thought that. I've always thought he was the best player ever.”
While 46-year-old Woods is a veteran of The Masters with five victories, 2022 marks the first time Varner III competes in the tournament. Varner III has never won a Major, but the World No.40 enters the tournament having made an encouraging start to 2022. He won February’s PIF Saudi International and finished tied for sixth in the unofficial fifth Major, The Players Championship, last month. Most recently, he finished tied for 18th at the WGC-Match Play.
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