J.T. Poston Wins the Memorial in a Playoff After Watching a Four-Shot Lead Vanish

J.T. Poston spent most of Sunday afternoon watching a four-shot lead melt away. Then he played the last five holes like a man who refused to hand it over, and walked off Muirfield Village with the Memorial trophy.

Poston beat Ryan Gerard on the second playoff hole to win the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, closing with an even-par 72 to finish at 12-under 276 before parring the 18th for the second time in extra holes. Gerard shot 68 and matched him at 276, then three-putted from about 55 feet on the decisive playoff hole. Wyndham Clark finished alone in third at 11 under after a 67. Tommy Fleetwood and Sam Burns tied for fourth at 10 under.

How the Lead Disappeared

Poston started the final round four clear, a cushion he built over the last 13 holes of the storm-delayed third round that very morning. Both finalists would end up playing 33 holes on Sunday, and for a long stretch it looked like the extra mileage was catching up with the leader.

By the time Poston reached the 14th tee, he was 3 over for the day after back-to-back bogeys at 12 and 13, and for the first time since the 17th hole on Friday, he was not leading. Nobody was running away with it, either. With two holes to play, five players were tied at 11 under: Poston, Gerard, Clark, Burns and Fleetwood.

"I needed to play the last five holes really well," Poston said, per the AP.

The Chaos at 15, 16 and 17

The closing stretch was a pileup. Fleetwood briefly grabbed the lead with an eagle at the par-5 15th, ripping a fairway metal to 5 feet. Clark birdied 16 to join the logjam. Then the 17th started handing out damage. Fleetwood hit three shots from the rough there and made bogey. Burns missed the fairway, saw his ball settle on the bridge over the creek, hit to 40 feet and watched his par putt lip out.

Gerard went the other way. The 26-year-old holed a 40-foot birdie on 17 to take a one-shot lead. Poston, playing out of deep rough on the same hole, laid up short of the creek, wedged to 12 feet and made the par putt he could not afford to miss.

Clark parred his way in for a 67, one shot short. Burns' 10-foot birdie try on 18 also missed, leaving him in a tie for fourth.

Answer at the Last

That left Poston in the 18th fairway needing a birdie. He hit an 8-iron from 162 yards to 7 feet and buried it to force extra holes.

"After Ryan made his putt, that made that putt honestly a little easier," Poston said. "I knew exactly what I needed to do."

The playoff went back to 18 twice. On the first trip, Poston missed a birdie putt from about 8 feet and neither player could end it. On the second, Gerard's long birdie try from roughly 55 feet ran about 6 feet past, and the comeback par putt slid by. Poston two-putted from 33 feet, and it was over.

Jack Nicklaus, never one to oversell a moment, put the 18th-hole birdie in plain terms. "He had to make it," Nicklaus said.

From Slump to Signature Winner

The context makes this one land harder. Poston arrived in Dublin without a top-20 finish in 13 starts this season and ranked 94th in the world, according to Golf Digest. He had also slid outside the top 100 in strokes gained putting before switching putters the week before at Colonial. At Muirfield Village, he ranked third in the field in putting.

The payoff is enormous. It is Poston's fourth PGA TOUR win and his first since the 2024 Shriners Children's Open, and it came at a Signature Event with a $20 million purse and a $4 million winner's check. He jumped to No. 39 in the world, which gets him into the U.S. Open without having to play Monday's 36-hole qualifier. He also took the one spot in The Open available through the Memorial and punched a ticket to next year's Masters.

"I told myself in the playoff that this is my U.S. Open qualifier," Poston said.

Poston also said he knew he would be shaking Nicklaus' hand walking off 18 no matter what happened, and that it was a dream come true.

Gerard Stings, Scheffler's Run Ends

For Gerard, the week was a breakthrough in everything but the result. He shared the first-round lead, never fell far behind and closed with a 68 on a day that rewarded nerve. Golf Digest noted it was his third runner-up finish of the year. "Just stings a little bit," Gerard said.

Scottie Scheffler's bid for a third straight Memorial title ended quietly with a 71 and a tie for 12th at 4 under. Rory McIlroy shot 68 to join him there, and is now 0 for 14 at the Memorial.

For Ohio golf fans, this one had everything: weather, a marathon Sunday, a five-way tie and a playoff decided on a missed 6-footer. Poston had to build the lead on Sunday morning and then win it all over again late in the afternoon. He did both.

Catch up on the full week in our Round 1, Round 2 and Round 3 recaps. The PGA TOUR's final-round recap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (final-round recap), AP, Golf Digest, Golf Channel, theScore. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.