Poston transformed his swing, body
J.T. Poston never flinched.
He went wire-to-wire in winning his second career PGA Tour title at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois.
“It is hard” he said, “having the lead that for that long, it’s hard not to think about it and think about that finish line.”
Poston closed with a 2-under 69 at TPC Deere Run, three strokes better than Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Emiliano Grillo, and joined Scott Hoch (1980) and David Frost (1992) as the third player in tournament history to lead from start to finish. Poston, 29, grabbed sole possession of the lead at the third hole of the second round and didn’t take his foot off the gas, posting a 72-hole total of 21-under 263.
When Poston wins, he has a knack for playing well for all 72 holes. In his previous win at the 2019 Wyndham Championship, Poston went 72 holes without a bogey.
“I think the beauty of J.T. is never gets too high with the highs or too low with the lows. He just kind of stays pretty steady,” two-time major champion Zach Johnson said. “He’s not quite Jason Dufner, but he’s close.”
But Poston said despite his unflappable calm – he showed no emotion when his 67-foot birdie putt at 12 collided with the flagstick and instead of disappearing in the hole ricocheted 5 feet away – the competitive fires burn within.
“I was just trying to breathe,” he said. “There were a lot more nerves than the first few days and I was just trying to battle through them. I think after today, after this week I know I can play with those nerves and win.”
Golf fitness instructor Randy Myers has worked with Poston since he turned pro in 2015 after playing his college golf at Western Carolina University and moved to St. Simon’s Island, Georgia.
“He’s got a bit of a chip on his shoulder and plays with it because he wasn’t one of those highly touted kids,” Myers said.
Under Myers’s watchful eye, Poston transformed his body, adding size to his frame and physically maturing as well as improving his ability to hit the ball
more effectively.
“He weighed about 150 soaking wet when he graduated college,” Myers said. “He’s put on 25 pounds of muscle and he still looks thin.”
One week after tying for second at the Travelers Championship, Poston became the first player on record (since 1983) to open consecutive Tour events with a 62 or better. He followed a first round 9-under 62 with a 6-under 65 and tacked on a third-round 67 to shoot his fifth consecutive round of 67 or better on the Tour. Poston ranked first in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and Strokes Gained: Around the Green. Poston, who normally depends on his putting prowess as the key to his success,
found the winner’s circle with a pedestrian week for him (33rd in SG: putting).
“Even when it’s average it’s really good,” Johnson said.
Poston raced out of the gate on Sunday with birdies on his first three holes, including a 24-foot putt at the third, to pad his lead to five strokes. Just as he was starting to look unstoppable, he made bogeys at Nos. 5 and 6 and by the turn Grillo had trimmed the lead to one stroke. Despite going 13 holes without a birdie, Poston’s closest competitors couldn’t mount much of a charge, and after Grillo made bogey at the 12th, no one ever got closer than two strokes of Poston. He made a clutch 10-foot par putt at 13 and added a short birdie at 17 to stretch his lead to three and win the 50th edition of the John Deere Classic.
In addition to the customary perks of victory, Poston also booked a spot at the 150th British Open via the Open Qualifying Series as the leading three players not already exempt are now headed to St. Andrews for the season’s final major. Bezuidenhout and Grillo, who tied for second, locked up the other two available spots.
“I’ve always wanted to play in one of those in any of the venues, but for my first one to be at St. Andrews, at the 150th, I can’t wait to get there,” Poston said.
“I can’t wait to see what it’s like.”