J.T. Poston salvaged a par after his tee shot went into the rough on the second playoff hole, and that was good enough to beat Ryan Gerard and win the Memorial Tournament on Sunday at Dublin, Ohio.
Poston shot even-par 72 in the fourth round as part of a long day of play Sunday at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
Gerard’s birdie putt from about 37 feet away on the 17th hole gave him the lead as he went on to shoot a 68. Poston made a 7 1/2-foot birdie putt on the final hole to extend the tournament.
Poston and Gerard were both at 12-under 276.
Poston, who won for the fourth time on the PGA Tour, was the second- and third-round leader in what became a five-way race across the closing holes of the final round.
Gerard, whose only PGA Tour victory came in last year’s Barracuda Championship, wasn’t as sharp in the playoff. Both players missed birdie putts on the first playoff hole.
Wyndham Clark shot 67 in the fourth round to finish third at 11 under. Sam Burns (69) and England’s Tommy Fleetwood (68), who briefly held the lead during the final round, tied for fourth place at 10 under.
With a few holes to play, there was a five-way tie for first.
Fleetwood dropped back with a bogey on the 17th hole. Fleetwood’s eagle on No. 15 with a putt from inside 5 feet had put him among the co-leaders.
Burns lost his place among the leaders when trouble around the green resulted with a bogey on No. 17.
Poston’s third and fourth bogeys of the round came on Nos. 12 and 13 before he recovered for birdies on the next two holes to put him in position to force a playoff a few holes later.
Two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler followed his third-round 68 with a 71 in the final round. That left the World No. 1 at 4 under and tied for 12th place, and his bid to match Tiger Woods, the only golfer to win three consecutive Memorial titles, didn’t pan out.
England’s Alex Fitzpatrick and Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan both shot 65s in the final round to tie for sixth place at 8 under.
Poston stayed steady when the third round resumed Sunday morning, racking up five birdies in a nine-hole stretch. His 69 gave him a four-shot edge on Gerard, who slumped to a 72 for the round after sitting even with Poston when play was suspended late Saturday afternoon as the duo was on the sixth hole.
Burns joined Poston and Gerard in the final grouping for the fourth round, which was conducted in threesomes with golfers beginning on the first and 10th tees.
Only 21 golfers completed the third round Saturday.
–Field Level Media
