JT Poston at the Shriners Childrens Open.
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JT Poston hasn’t birdied 109 consecutive holes on the PGA Tour.
He wasn’t starting now.
Poston, known for his sweet and light stroke, saw both put to the test Sunday at the Shriner’s Childrens Open. He entered the final round with a three-shot lead and played flawlessly through 15 holes – making five birdies and 10 pars to that point – but the final three holes were another PGA Tour victory. it’s a simple thing.
On the 5th 16th, Poston was twice on the green and hit his third shot to six feet – but missed a short birdie try, setting up a par. His teammate Doug Ghim made birdie to get within three.
On the par-3 17th, Poston hit a short chip to four feet — but that putt missed the hole. Now the lead was two.
Then came the 18th. Poston found the fairway at the end of the par-4, but played to the middle of the green and left himself about 50 feet for birdie. Ghim, on the other hand, almost shot a second time in the hole; he would finish with a six-footer for birdie. That left Poston with four legs to take the win.
“Yes, I was telling myself that this is what you are dreaming of. You hit the putt to win on the PGA Tour. Just try and forget the last two. I didn’t make the best strokes in either of them, but I told myself I’ve done a million of these and I’ll do one more.”
He buried it.
Poston finished the week – with rollercoaster weather, starts and stops and two very different sides of the draw – at 22 under par, shooting (numerically satisfying sequence) 64-65-66-67 to claim his third career PGA victory Tour. His maiden win came at the Wyndham Championship in 2019 and his second at the 2022 John Deere Championship. Now he has won again in another time zone. You have an invitation to the Masters. He is ranked among the top 50 in the world.
Poston’s victory was also his first as a father. He and his wife welcomed their daughter Katherine Scott Poston – whom they call “Scottie” – in March.
“This one is really fun,” Poston said. “We’ve had a great fall at home – just being home, being a father has been the greatest gift of all.”
Ghim finished in second place alone in the 21 under division. Matti Schmid and Rico Hoey finished T3 at 19 under. Michael Kim, Davis Thompson and KH Lee rounded out the top five in the 18 under division. Gary Woodland (T9) posted his best finish since undergoing brain surgery last fall. And freshman Ian Gilligan finished T16 after a weekend of 66-65.
FedEx Cup Fall continues with next week’s Zozo Championship in Japan.
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