J.T. Poston wasn’t at his best during the final day of the Memorial Tournament, but there was no better feeling for him when it ended.
Poston salvaged a par after his tee shot went into the rough on the second playoff hole, and that was good enough to beat Ryan Gerard and win the tournament Sunday at Dublin, Ohio.
“Obviously didn’t play my best first 12, 13 holes, but I told myself I wanted to — I knew I was going to shake Jack’s hand walking off 18,” Poston said, referring to golf legend Jack Nicklaus, the tournament’s host. “And I wanted to be proud of that handshake regardless of how it turned out. So I’m thrilled it happened this way.”
Poston shot even-par 72 in the fourth round as part of a long day of play Sunday at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
Gerard’s birdie putt from about 37 feet away on the 17th hole gave him the lead as he went on to shoot a 68. Poston made a 7 1/2-foot birdie putt on the final hole to extend the tournament.
“Just hard to believe, honestly,” Poston, 33, said of the result. “I haven’t played my best, but I felt like it was trending and just to do it this way, birdieing 18.”
Poston and Gerard were both at 12-under 276. They played 32-plus holes Sunday after Saturday’s weather-related suspension.
“I’m tired,” said Gerard, 26. “I think that’s an obvious one. There’s a lot of stress out on this golf course. There’s not a lot of golf shots that you can kind of breathe.”
Poston, who won for the fourth time on the PGA Tour, was the second- and third-round leader in what became a five-way race across the closing holes of the final round.
Gerard, whose only PGA Tour victory came in last year’s Barracuda Championship, wasn’t as sharp in the playoff. Both players missed birdie putts on the first playoff hole.
Wyndham Clark shot 67 in the fourth round to finish third at 11 under. Sam Burns (69) and England’s Tommy Fleetwood (68), who briefly held the lead during the final round, tied for fourth place at 10 under.
With a few holes to play, there was a five-way tie for first.
“I know there were a lot of people kind of tied for the lead at one point coming down the stretch, and I felt like I stepped up and executed golf shots that I wanted to execute,” Gerard said.
Fleetwood dropped back with a bogey on the 17th hole. Fleetwood’s eagle on No. 15 with a putt from inside 5 feet had put him among the co-leaders.
“Overall, I felt like I played great and really enjoyed it,” Fleetwood said.
Burns lost his place among the leaders when trouble around the green resulted with a bogey on No. 17.
“I think I played a really good round of golf and unfortunately just got beat,” Burns said.
Poston’s third and fourth bogeys of the round came on Nos. 12 and 13 before he recovered for birdies on the next two holes to put him in position to force a playoff a few holes later.
Two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler followed his third-round 68 with a 71 in the final round. That left the World No. 1 at 4 under and tied for 12th place, and his bid to match Tiger Woods, the only golfer to win three consecutive Memorial titles, didn’t pan out.
“Just little things, little mistakes that I don’t typically make, I felt like I was making this week,” Scheffler said.
England’s Alex Fitzpatrick and Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan both shot 65s in the final round to tie for sixth place at 8 under.
Poston stayed steady when the third round resumed Sunday morning, racking up five birdies in a nine-hole stretch. His 69 gave him a four-shot edge on Gerard, who slumped to a 72 for the round after sitting even with Poston when play was suspended late Saturday afternoon as the duo was on the sixth hole.
Burns joined Poston and Gerard in the final grouping for the fourth round, which was conducted in threesomes with golfers beginning on the first and 10th tees.
Only 21 golfers completed the third round Saturday.
–Field Level Media
