Harold Varner III leads after first round of LIV Golf DC

POTOMAC FALLS: Harold Varner III has made more eagles this LIV Golf League season than any other player, and thanks to his two on Friday at LIV Golf DC, he now leads for the first time since becoming a member.

Fueled by eagles at the par-4 ninth and par-5 13th, Varner shot an 8-under 64 at Trump National Washington, DC, to take a two-stroke advantage over James Piot, with Cameron Smith, Kevin Na, Mito Pereira and reserve Andy Ogletree tied for third at 4 under.

Brooks Koepka, who won the fifth major of his career at last week’s PGA Championship, shot an even-par 72 to provide his Smash GC team with its best counting score, despite having little prep work after arriving onsite Thursday afternoon and dealing with a cracked driver for more than half of Friday’s round.

“It felt good just to play golf again, kind of get it out of the way,” said Koepka after celebrating his fifth major win the past few days at home in South Florida. “Hopefully play a little better the next few days knowing the golf course a little bit more.”

On the team leaderboard, Varner’s RangeGoats GC share the lead with Iron Heads GC at 10 under, with Piot’s HyFlyers GC tied for third with Torque GC and 4Aces GC at 8 under.

Two weeks ago at LIV Golf’s previous event in Tulsa, Varner tied a League record low by shooting 61, a round that included two eagles. His two on Friday came in his first 10 holes, including his hole-out on the ninth hole. He now has 10 on the season.

“Holing out never gets old — and it makes it a lot easier,” said Varner. “… You just want to have eagle looks, honestly. If you do that — I got lucky. I made some long ones in Tulsa, chipped in, but that’s part of it. I feel like I’ve been working on it.”

Varner had a slow start