DUBLIN, Ohio — J.T. Poston says he is not a quitter, and it was time to prove it Sunday at the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament.
When he walked to the 14th tee at Muirfield Village, Poston 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 set up by an 8-iron shot to seven feet from 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 six-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 wanted 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.”