J.T. Poston completed a wire-to-wire victory Sunday at the John Deere Classic. Here’s everything you need to know from the final round at TPC Deere Run:
Leaderboard: J.T. Poston (-21), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (-18), Emiliano Grillo (-18), Christopher Gotterup (-17), Scott Stallings (-17)
How it happened: After opening with a 9-under 62 on Thursday, Poston began Sunday’s final round with a three-shot lead. He wasted no time building his advantage, birdieing each of his first three holes. The first two birdies came from inside of 4 feet while the third was a 24-footer from the fringe at the par-3 third hole. Though Poston made just one birdie after that, his final-round 69 was enough to get the job done. Grillo birdied the par-5 10th hole to pull within a shot, but he bogeyed Nos. 12 and 14 to end his threat. Poston converted an easy birdie from 5 feet at the par-5 17th hole to stretch his lead to three shots, where it would finish.
What it means: The victory marks Poston’s second on the PGA Tour – his first since the 2019 Wyndham Championship – and it also earns him a spot in The Open at St. Andrews in two weeks. It will mark Poston's first Open. Joining Poston in punching tickets to the Open were Grillo and Bezuidenhout. Poston has jumped all the way to No. 22 in the FedExCup after this recent two-week stretch that also included a T-2 at the Travelers.
Round of the day: Nick Hardy, who is from the Chicago area, closed strong with a 7-under 64. He made two eagles, at Nos. 10 and 14, with the latter coming after Hardy drove the green and had just 5 feet left. Hardy ended up T-30, his fourth straight finish of T-35 or better on Tour. He is now No. 135 in FedExCup points as he looks to make a playoff push.
Shot of the day: Kevin Streelman aced the 189-yard, par-3 12th hole, the second hole-in-one of Streelman’s PGA Tour career.
Biggest disappointment: Denny McCarthy. While McCarthy notched his third top-10 finish in his last four starts, he could only manage an even-par 71 on Sunday, and to make matters worse, he lipped out a 4-footer for par at the last to cost himself an Open berth.
Winning quote: "Wire to wire, having the lead for that long, it's just hard not to think about it and think about that finish line all week. I tried to stick to the game plan, we got off to a great start and then kind of started to try and give some back, but hit a lot of good shots down the stretch. [Caddie Aaron] Flener did a great job of keeping my head in it and keeping me focused on the next one. I was just trying to breathe. There were a lot of nerves, a lot more than the first few days, and I was just trying to battle through them. After today, after this week, I feel like I know I can play with those nerves and I can still win, I can still shoot a solid score considering the pressure." – Poston