Nicklaus on conditions Poston on his clutch play Gerard is devestated
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.
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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.”
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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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