It’s Raining Perspective For HV3

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA | For a man who had just spent four precious strokes over the final two holes of his first round in the rain-spattered Players Championship, spoiling 16 holes of near brilliance, Harold Varner III was beyond philosophical.

He was just HV3.

“It's a game. That's why we play it. No one is going to die out there,” Varner said late Thursday, just minutes after finishing triple bogey-bogey to go from being the early leader in the Players to among a crowd of players at 3-under-par 69.

A lot of players would have ducked the media after a finish like Varner’s but he hung around after his question-and-answer session, gave some long-time, no-see hugs to friends and if he felt like breaking something, he hid it well, knowing he would have two nights to sleep on what got away thanks to persistent storms soaking the Sawgrass Stadium Course.

“Sixteen great holes,” said Varner, among the tour’s most effervescent personalities.

After "16 great hol...