J.T. Poston secured a victory Sunday in the John Deere Classic, giving him his second PGA Tour title.
The 29-year-old became just the third player to win the tournament in wire-to-wire fashion. Not only did he earn the win, he also earned a spot in the Open Championship.
“It’s just tough to play with the lead,” Poston said, per The Associated Press. “There is just a little bit of added pressure. Wire-to-wire, pretty much having the lead from Thursday on, I told all the media after every round that I was just trying to stick to my game plan and I wasn’t going to think about it.”
Potson carried the momentum from last week’s Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut, where he finished tied with Sahith Theegala for second place at 17-under. Poston and Theegala fell just short of Xander Schauffele, who won that tournament after shooting 19-under.
Poston began his last round Sunday with three birdies in a row. He then bogeyed the fifth and sixth hole. Poston’s lead was just one stroke heading into the back-nine holes of his final round, but he birdied the par-5 17th hole, bringing his lead back to where he started the day.
Poston began Sunday three strokes ahead and finished the day 2-under par (69). He kept a three-stroke margin over Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Emiliano Grillo, who also qualified for the Open Championship.
Poston shot 21-under (263) over the course of the four-day tournament at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. He shot a 62 the first round, 65 the second round and 67 in the third round.
Just two weeks ago he was ranked 112th in the FedEx Cup. He now sits in 22nd, a significant jump in only 14 days.
