CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Tiger Woods didn’t need any motivation to win this month’s Masters, but if he was looking for some extra inspiration he found it via a simple request. And he provided it as well.
The week of the Valspar Championship, Harold Varner III sent Woods a text asking if he could shoot a video for a friend, Daniel Meggs, who is battling cancer. The 17-second clip arrived on the eve of this year’s Masters.
“I've never asked [Woods] for anything. I asked him the week of Tampa and I got it the Wednesday of the Masters. I sent it to [Meggs] and he sent the greatest reply ever,” Varner recalled on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship. “He said, ‘Well, I can die now.’ We're laughing. He's like, ‘No, man, it's really cool. I needed this.’”
Varner explained that he grew up playing junior golf against Meggs in North Carolina and later in college when Meggs played for the Wake Forest golf team and Varner played for East Carolina. Following Woods’ Masters victory Varner called Meggs.
“For like a good 20 seconds, we didn't say anything. We just cried,” said Varner, who described the video as inspirational. “It was just super awesome. Like I didn't do anything, but the joy that I got out of seeing him talk to me, I just can't put it into words.”
Varner, who sent Woods a text message thanking him for the video, said he hopes Meggs can attend this week’s Wells Fargo Championship if he’s up to it and that he’s trying to have his friend caddie a few holes for him in the pro-am.