Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – J.T. Poston survived late pressure from Doug Ghim, firing five birdies in a four-under par 67 to claim the third US PGA Tour title of his career on Sunday in Las Vegas, Nevada. Poston, 31 and ranked 64th in the world, finished with a 22-under par total of 262 at TPC Summerlin, to beat Ghim by one stroke. Ghim had an eagle and four birdies in his six-under par 65, including a six-foot birdie at the last that put him on 21-under 263.
Poston, tied for the lead when darkness halted play on Saturday, birdied three of his last five holes to complete a five-under par third-round 66 on Sunday morning, taking a three-stroke lead over Ghim into the final round. The tournament had been in catch-up mode since dangerous winds led to a four-hour delay on Friday. Ghim had cut the deficit to one stroke with an 11-foot eagle at the par-five ninth. But Poston rolled in a 21-foot birdie at the 12th and made a three-foot birdie at the par-five 13th to push his lead back to three.
Poston added a birdie at 15, but Ghim kept the pressure on with a birdie at the par-five 16th, and Poston missed a four-foot par putt to bogey the par-three 17th, sending them to the 18th tee with Poston’s lead down to two strokes. That proved to be enough. After Ghim drained his birdie putt, Poston stepped up to make his four-footer for par to claim his first victory since the 2022 John Deere Classic. “I just told myself this is what you dream of — you’ve got a putt to win on the PGA Tour,” Poston said, adding that he’d “just tried to forget” about poor putts on 16 and 17.
“Didn’t make very good strokes on either of them, but I just told myself I’ve made a million and (Ghim is) in this. Do one more.” Ghim, 28 and ranked 148th in the world, remains in search of his first PGA Tour title. Germany’s Matti Schmid and Rico Hoey of the Philippines both carded five-under par 66 to share third place on 19-under 265. American Michael Kim roared up the leaderboard with a final-round 62 for an 18-under par total of 266, sharing fifth with Davis Thompson and South Korea’s Lee Kyoung-hoon, who both shot 66. South Korean Tom Kim, the 2022 and 2023 champion, missed the cut in his bid for a three-peat.
© 2024 AFP
