06/07/26 07:32:00
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06/07 19:30 CDT J.T. Poston loses a 4-shot lead and comes up clutch to win
Memorial in a playoff
J.T. Poston loses a 4-shot lead and comes up clutch to win Memorial in a playoff
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) --- J.T. Poston says he is not a quitter and it was time to
prove it Sunday at the Memorial.
When he walked to the 14th tee at Muirfield Village, he was trailing for the
first time since the 17th hole Friday. The four-shot lead he had at the start
of the final round was gone. He was 3 over for the day as everyone was
charging. The tournament was slipping away.
Poston delivered three birdies over the next five holes, the last one an 8-iron
to 7 feet on the 18th hole with tournament host Jack Nicklaus watching a wild
affair unfold. That forced a playoff with Ryan Gerard, and Poston won on the
second extra hole when Gerard missed a 6-foot par putt.
"I needed to play the last five holes really well," Poston said. "I knew I was
going to be shaking Mr. Nicklaus's hand walking off 18 no matter what, and I
want to be proud of the effort when I did. So just to do it the way that I did
... is a dream come true, and something I'll certainly carry with me the rest
of my career."
Nicklaus was certainly impressed, and at times could relate.
For all the late fireworks --- that included a five-way tie for the lead late
in the afternoon --- key to the biggest win of Poston's career was the 17th
hole.
Poston was in deep rough and chose to lay up short of the creek, hitting wedge
to 12 feet. Gerard holed a 40-foot birdie putt to take the lead. Poston had to
make par to stay within one shot, and he poured in the par to set up his big
finish.
"After Ryan made his putt, that made that putt honestly a little easier,"
Poston said. "I knew exactly what I needed to do."
Nicklaus, who has made a few clutch putts in his career, concurred.
"He had to make it," Nicklaus said. "I think sometimes when you have to make a
putt, you find yourself in that position that you say, ?Well, I don't have any
choice, I got to make it.' So yeah, I think by and large those are easier,
actually."
Nothing felt easy on this day, starting with 33 holes on one of the PGA Tour's
most demanding courses, with Poston knowing he could be facing 36 holes of U.S.
Open qualifying on Monday.
He built the four-shot lead Sunday morning over the final 13 holes of the
storm-delayed third round. That was gone in 12 holes, and he trailed after the
13th hole of the fourth round.
Wyndham Clark, Tommy Fleetwood and Sam Burns were charging. Gerard wasn't going
anywhere, playing rock-solid until one mistake on the final playoff hole --- a
three-putt from 55 feet.
"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," said Gerard, who closed with a 4-under 68. "Just
stings a little bit."
Poston's birdie on the final hole of regulation gave him a 72. They finished at
12-under 276.
The perks went beyond the $4 million prize.
Poston earned a spot in the next three majors with one great week. He moved to
No. 39 in the world ranking, meaning he will be added to the U.S. Open field a
week from Monday. He captured the one British Open spot available at the
Memorial, and he gets in the Masters next year.
"I told myself in the playoff that this is my U.S. Open qualifier," Poston
said. "I want to play in the majors. I want to play in the big events. This is
a huge boost of confidence for me and my game and knowing that I can compete in
those and play in those. Just thrilled to get it done."
Fleetwood drilled a fairway metal to 5 feet for eagle on the par-5 15th to
briefly take the lead. Clark birdied the 16th hole to share the lead. Burns was
never too far behind. All of them were at 11 under heading to the final few
holes.
Clark closed with two pars for a 67. He wound up alone in third, one shot out
of the playoff.
Fleetwood hit into the rough with his first three shots on the 17th and had to
scramble for bogey. He shot 68. Burns also missed the 17th fairway, and his
next shot tumbled back down the rough and settled on the bridge over a small
creek. He hit that to 40 feet, and his long par putt peeked into the cup and
somehow stayed out. A 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th narrowly missed. He shot
69 and tie for fourth with Fleetwood.
Scottie Scheffler, trying to join Tiger Woods with a third straight victory at
the Memorial, was never in the mix for so much of the week. He closed with a 71
and tied for 12th, but felt he did enough right over the weekend that his game
was headed in the right direction.
His next stop is the U.S. Open, where a victory would give him the career Grand
Slam.
Rory McIlroy is now 0 for 14 at the Memorial. He birdied his first three holes
before getting caught in dense rough that slowed his momentum. He shot 68 and
tied for 12th.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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