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06/07 18:08 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 built a four-shot lead Sunday morning in the
rain-delayed Memorial and won the biggest tournament of his career. It just
turned out to be a lot more work than he would have imagined.
Poston, who lost his lead after 12 holes, made a 7-foot birdie putt on the 18th
hole to salvage an even-par 72 and force a playoff with Ryan Gerard, and then
won on the second extra hole when Gerard missed a 6-foot par putt.
Gerard made a 40-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to briefly take the lead,
closed with a 68 and didn't really make a mistake over the final four hours
until the final putt.
So ended the longest day for both of them --- 33 holes, including 13 in the
morning to complete the third round and two playoff holes. But what a payoff
for Poston in so many ways. He had not finished in the top 20 in his previous
13 tournaments this year. And then he delivered the goods and celebrated with a
handshake with tournament host Jack Nicklaus.
"A lot of holes, a lot of grit," Poston said. "Obviously, didn't play my best
first 12, 13 holes, but I told myself I knew I was going to shake Jack's hand
walking off 18, and I wanted to be proud of that handshake regardless of how it
turned out. So I'm thrilled it happened this way."
The perks went beyond the $4 million prize. Poston earned a spot in the next
three majors with one great week --- high enough in the world ranking to avoid
a 36-hole qualifier Monday for the U.S. Open, the one British Open spot
available this week, and a return to the Masters.
They finished at 12-under 276 after Poston and Gerard pulled away from what had
been a five-way tie for the lead with an hour to go in the tournament.
Tommy Fleetwood drilled a fairway metal to 5 feet for eagle on the par-5 15th.
Wyndham Clark made a late surge. Sam Burns was never too far behind. All of
them were at 11 under heading to the final few holes.
Clark, who made birdie on the 16th to reach 11 under, 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.
Two storm stoppages Saturday led to the marathon Sunday. Poston did some of his
best work in the morning, running off three straight birdies on the back nine
for a 69 for a four-shot lead.
He had a long three-putt bogey on the third, but as Burns and Gerard and Clark
began to inch closer, Poston was missing fairways and losing ground --- another
three-putt bogey on the ninth from long range, a bogey from deep rough on the
par-3 12th, and a weak par putt from 10 feet on the 13th to fall behind for the
first time.
But he followed with an 18-foot birdie putt on the 14th, an up-and-down from
the bunker for birdie on the par-5 15th and a 12-foot par save on the 17th hole
when he couldn't afford another mistake.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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