Harold Varner III Is Playing Golf the Jordan Way

As LIV Golf Adelaide drew to a close for another year, the scale of the moment was undeniable. Record crowds had poured into The Grange Golf Club across the tournament's four days, witnessing American Anthony Kim fight the odds to claim a stellar, emotional win. The tournament turned fairways into grandstands, transforming one of golf’s most tradition-bound settings into a melting pot of music, culture and sport. Inside that energy, we caught up with pro golfer Harold Varner III, who is known to have one of the toughest sneaker collections in golf.

For Varner, golf and sneakers are completely intertwined. Not in a ‘Which spikes should I wear today?’ sense, but in the considered, borderline obsessive way that only elite athletes and those who value what's on-foot truly understand. Arch support. Stability. Sole thickness. Traction patterns. A story. In a sport that’s finding more and more latitude for self-expression, Varner stands as proof that footwear can be both functional and cultural currency. We caught up with HV3 on his childhood, what it means to represent Jordan Brand, and his relationship with the GOAT himself: Michael Jordan.

Tell us a little about you got into golf and why footwear has always been such a focus for you.
I grew up playing golf with my dad and got hooked on it. Obviously, the journey in America is to go to college and focus on turning pro, and that was my path to get into professional golf. I played in East Carolina, a small town in North Carolina.

From a sneaker aspect, I always had bad feet – like, flat feet. I have a degenerative nerve in my right foot that I've had since I was six or seven years old. I just need good arch support, so I always wore orthotics from a young age. I was always worried about what I wore on-foot, and we were a Nike school at East Caroline, so I was always in Nikes. Then, in my fourth or third year on tour, I started wearing Jordan Brand and being around MJ and all of that was super cool. Golf-wise, I played [seven or] eight years on the PGA Tour, and now I'm playing LIV and I'm really enjoying myself.

Did you grow up wearing sneakers?
I wish I did, but it wasn't a thing in my family because they cost too much and I didn't have a lot of money. At that time, a pair of shoes cost what it cost to sign up for another golf tournament. We had to priortise.

I did always love Nike, and when we could, we’d go to the Nike outlet – the one closest to us at home growing up – [and] just run through it. [Later], when we would play the Oregon tournament, they'd let us go to the employee store! That’s when I went for it. I guess that was the start of the obsession. And then once I got onto Jordan Brand, it all changed! It was even better.

I probably have 3000 pairs of shoes now. I have a room with the shoe boxes stacked up from the container store and they are all well taken off.

What is your first sneaker memory in golf?
I would say it was my second year on tour, I bought my first pairs of Jordans. They were the 1 Mids. I don't know why. I got them in three different colourways and I still have those three pairs. I don't wear them at the moment and obviously now being in the brand, you get tons of shoes, so it's a little different. I remember my first shoe with Jordan Brand, they made me the Air Jordan 3 Golf Low, those with the elephant print in black, and it's so sick. Once again, they're one-of-ones and I still have them.

When I first got into Jordan Brand, they were trying to figure it out what I needed to be supported while playing, and they built me two shoes – they made those 3s in white, and they made them with black. They're so sick. That's probably my favourite shoe in general, with spikes or without spikes.

Golf has always been quite conservative on the footwear side. When did you first identify that sneakers could belong on the course?
Nike started it with moving away from a traditional lifestyle shoe to an athletic shoe for golf. You can tell FootJoy, for example, is even getting into more of an athletic shoe. Guys are wearing more athletic stuff. The clothing kind of dictated that. I think it started there, and now you have hoodies on the golf course. I think it's a trickle-down effect. You can wear sneakers with hoodies – you can't wear a college shirt with sneakers. And now it's turned into just full-on, ‘What do you have, what do you not have? What colours do you have?’ Spray paint, painting them, I think it's great. I mean, [golf is] conservative, but I think people that are conservative are going to stay conservative. The time of COVID made golf way more welcoming to everybody, because you couldn't do anything else in so many parts of the world – well, in America, anyway!

What are you wearing on the fairways?
Right now, I'm wearing the [Air Jordan] 9s. They also came out with the [Air Jordan] 1 Lows with spikes, and I have some that were custom made. They didn't come in time for this tournament because of the snowstorm in the US, so I was kind of bummed I wasn’t able to wear them for Adelaide. But it is what it is. I'm really looking forward to putting those on because that's what I wear most of the time.

I really like the 9s – I like the sole. It's a little thicker. It's kind of weird: I've always liked something a little bit more sturdy because I'm not clumsy, but I'm close to being clumsy. The 14s came out last year, and they’re not my preferred pair. They were super high on my ankle, so I didn't wear them much. People loved them, though.

How have sneakers and the culture around them helped make golf more accessible and relatable to the younger audience? Do you think that brands like Jordan have helped facilitate that?
1000%! From my experience, I feel like with the new wave of people getting into golf, they don't really have to buy golf shoes. They'll wear their OG Jordans or tennis shoes on the golf course, so now [those brands are] building a golf-specific shoe. It’s all part of that circle, of what Jordan shoe you have, and they have spikes now. They just have so many options now, which is kind of cool.

What's in your collection and what are you loving the most?
There are too many to cover, but I will say the shoe that I love the most was the AJ11. Those 'Concord' 11s that came out were so sick! I just loved lacing them up. They were just so clean.

And then some other favourites would be the Pebble Beach-inspired ‘No Denim Allowed’ golf shoes. The best is when people come into my [sneaker] room, some of my friends, and they'll be like, ‘Bro, you don't know how iconic that shoe is.’ And then the way they back their athletes making their own shoe, Zion's [Williamson] Low ones are so sick, it's unbelievable. I’ve just mentioned the most specific ones that I love the most that I really cherish, or there is a memory behind them.

Do you wear all your pairs?
To me, they are meant to be worn! If they're cool, you wear them.

There's only one shoe I don't wear: Jordan Brand did my wedding shoes. I wore AJ1s at my wedding, and every groomsman had our initials on the back of them, and the date that we got married. I sent my suit to Jordan Brand and they matched the blue. It was wild. Those are the only pair that I haven’t worn more than once. And a lot of companies aren't going to just be so caring in that way... I mean, I literally just sent my suit, they sent the shoes! All my groomsmen had the suit and the shoe.

So it's an experience I'll never forget – that, and marrying my wife!

Is there a sneaker that you're chasing?
Oh, yeah! It was the first 11 that came out around Augusta National! I would love to get my hands on those. We all know what happened there, with the green and that logo, so they couldn't wear it and I didn't get that shoe. So that sucked. I wonder who has them? This is one I need to get my hands on.

What does the future look like for you?
In my first year at LIV, I won. I really like winning and that’s what I am aiming for. I think I'm working a little harder and just a little bit more focused. That probably helps. Two little ones: four and two. So it's pretty crazy around the house.

I just want to get back into contention. Obviously last week didn't play great, but I’m on a new team this year with Smash, so it’s looking bright. [Captain] Talor Gooch is a really good friend of mine, I've known him for years, so I'm super looking forward to continuing to play with him and the team. But honestly, it just comes down to playing good golf.

I want to win, and [in order] to make the team the best team, I need to play well myself. So just do the things I need to do and control the things that I can control: working hard, putting yourself in a position to go do good.

Is there a signature shoe coming with Jordan Brand in the future?
We will see! I think it's really hard with LIV and Nike right now, and I hope we can break through on it, but it's very much about what MJ wants – and I respect whatever he wants to do. That's why it's way bigger than the shoe.

Kevin Durant, LeBron, all that: Nike and Jordan empower athletes to go and create their own stories with their shoes. Which I think is the best. I've always told people, ‘Man, everyone loves a shoe.’ And I do have stories – you almost create your own stories with a shoe. They built these shoes off of stories and journeys of other people, but when you get the shoe, you get to tell a story why it's important. And I don't think people have enough time to talk about it. They just see the shoe. ‘Oh, it looks good,’ or, ‘I don't like this or that.’ But there's way more to it sometimes, when you get that shoe. It shouldn't have that much value, but I got married in the shoes that have a lot of value, you know what I mean? Stuff like that, you don't really think about.

So, we'll see on my side. I don't know. That's a great question. I would love the opportunity, but I think we just have a little way to go.

Do you give Jordan Brand feedback on their golf releases?
Oh, yeah – they want you to give that feedback. Oh, it's nuts. You call, you're like, ‘Hey, I don't like this. I like that.’ That's how they became great. And I've really enjoyed going out there [to Beaverton] once a year. You just do all kinds of crazy stuff, they show you around, it’s so cool. You literally walk in there and they measure everything and you'd be like, 'I like this or like that.' 'What colours do you want?' Just empowering athletes, which I didn't understand.

The experiences that I've had… I got to meet Howard White, which was awesome. Things like that that I just really cherish. MJ's relationship. For me, it's more than a shoe, but I've been super fortunate to be able to ask MJ questions and spend time with him, and just get knowledge that is important for, I think, my life, moreso than the shoe.

Have you golfed with MJ?
Yes, a few times. Yeah, he's the best. He's been great for my life, coming to LIV, making big decisions. He holds you to a high standard, and wants you to respect yourself, be a business person, and think high.

Check out our 2026 calendar of performance-sneaker sports events – including golf, running, F1 and more – right here.