Poston claims first PGA Tour victory at Wyndham Championship
J.T. Poston kept racking up birdies and pars – but no bogeys – at the Wyndham Championship. They added up to his first PGA Tour victory – and a firsttime-in-decades achievement.
Poston shot an 8-under 62 on Sunday for a onestroke victory at the tour’s regular-season finale.
He tied Henrik Stenson’s 2-year-old tournament record at 22-under 258, and became the first player since Lee Trevino in 1974 to win a 72-hole stroke-play event on tour without any bogeys or worse.
“I probably haven’t had that many bogey-free rounds this year,” Poston said. “To be able to do four in a row is pretty special, and finish it off with a 62 on Sunday is pretty awesome.”
The native North Carolinian began his round three strokes back, took the lead for good with – what else? – a birdie on the par-5 15th hole, then finished with three straight pars to earn $1,116,000 and 500 Fedex Cup points.
Webb Simpson was at 21 under after a 65. Byeong Hun An, who held or shared the lead after each of the first three rounds, three-putted the 18th for a bogey and a 67 to finish two shots back. Trying to force a playoff with a birdie, he nearly holed a 60-footer but had it run well past.
“Nothing was really working at the end,” An said. “I just ran out of juice.”
Poston, a former Western Carolina golfer playing a 100-mile drive from his hometown of Hickory, became the third player in 11 years with strong local ties to win at Sedgefield Country Club. He joined 2008 winner Carl Petterson – a Swede who grew up in Greensboro – and Simpson, the 2011 champion who’s from Raleigh and played college golf at Wake Forest.