Harold Varner experiences nightmare that is Bethpage Black

If you happened to be one of the 50,000 or so souls who packed Bethpage Black for Sunday’s final round of the PGA Championship and you watched what happened to Harold Varner III on the fourth hole, surely it looked familiar to anyone who’s played the brutal golf course.

Because it’s happened to you, me and everyone else who’s dared to challenge the Black.

When Bethpage Black hosted the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens, its charm was as the “people’s Open,’’ a public golf course the fans can relate to as they watched the pros struggle, because they’ve been there and done that.

This week, the Black Course, which by tournament’s end yielded six scores below par, including the 8-under-par that winner Brooks Koepka posted, was the “people’s PGA.’’

And on the fourth hole Sunday, Varner, an affable 28-year-old PGA Tour pro who’s still in search of his first career victory, was one of the people who got scarred by what the Black Course dishes, which at times can be pure, unadulterated misery.

Sunday was an opportunity of a lifetime for Varner, who was playing in his fifth major championship as a pro, having made only one cut — a tie for 66th at the 2016 British Open. And he got Bethpaged.

Varner was in the final pairing, with Koepka. He wasn’t going to win the tournament, because Koepka took a record seven-shot lead into the day. But a finish in the top four would score Varner an invite to the 2020 Masters, among other perks.

He birdied the first hole after positively nutting his drive and then stuffing his approach shot close to the flag. Koepka, meanwhile, bogeyed No. 1. The two-shot swing now had Varner five shots back with 17 holes still to play and the fans murmuring as if something dramatic might still actually happen on this day that was supposed to be a boring Koepka coronation.

After both players parred No. 2, Varner carded a sloppy double bogey on the par-3 third hole and then No. 4 happened.

He pulled his tee shot into the knee-deep fescue to the left of the bunkers and then yanked his second shot farther left, where his ball ricocheted off a tree and went deep into the woods, where it would never be found despite a search-and-rescue in which Keopka and his caddie helped.

That mess led to a second consecutive double bogey and suddenly Varner was 10 shots behind Koepka and reeling. He would never recover.

Varner signed for an 11-over-par 81 and finished tied for 36th. It was his best career finish in a major and that, of course, didn’t mean a damn thing to him.

“Man, it’s just rough,’’ Varner said afterward. “It was really hard. I just didn’t play well enough. It’s just a hard golf course. It was just really hard. I don’t know what else to say.’’

Varner called the calamity on the fourth hole, “crazy, but it happens.’’

“Mine,’’ he said of his bad moment, “just happened on the last day’’ of the tournament.

Surely, he learned a lot about himself this week, putting himself in position, and Sunday, with his struggle.

“I’m good enough to compete with the best,’’ Varner said. “I know what it takes to get there [in contention]. I don’t have to do anything else out of the realm of what I believe I can do. That’s comforting to know, because you think you’ve got to do something out of the ordinary when you’ve never been there.

“I was right there,’’ he went on. “Gosh, it was a lot of fun, man. It was something I’ve never felt before. So it was pretty cool. I still had a good time. That’s kind of what you play for. That’s my first time there, and I can’t wait to get back there and see how I can improve. I’m obviously a little pissed right now. You want to do well.’’

Varner, who’s one of three black players on the PGA Tour, said he got some encouraging texts Saturday night from both Tiger Woods, whom he idolized growing up, and Michael Jordan, whose Jordan Brand apparel he wears.

“The reason I play golf is because of my dad,” Varner said. “The reason I watch golf is because of Tiger.”

“Keep it simple,’’ he said was the essence of the messages from Woods and Jordan.

Simple got real complicated on Nos. 3 and 4 and then it was over so quickly for Varner.

Anyone who’s played Bethpage Black can relate.

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