J.T. Poston fends off charging Ghim to win Shriners Childrens Open

J.T. Poston hadn’t three-putted for 109 consecutive holes on the PGA Tour.

He wasn’t about to start now.

Poston, who’s known for his sweet stroke and easygoing demeanor, saw both tested coming down the stretch on Sunday at the Shriner’s Childrens Open. He entered the final round with a three-shot lead and played mistake-free through 15 holes — he’d made five birdies and 10 pars up to that point — but the final three holes served as yet another reminder that winning on the PGA Tour is anything but easy.

At the par-5 16th, Poston was greenside in two and hit his third shot to six feet — but missed the short birdie try, settling for par. His playing partner Doug Ghim made birdie to get within three.

At the par-3 17th, Poston hit a nifty chip to four feet — but that putt never touched the hole. Now the lead was two.

Then came the 18th. Poston found the fairway at the finishing par-4, but played to the middle of the green and left himself nearly 50 feet for birdie. Ghim, meanwhile, nearly landed his second shot in the hole; he’d finish off a six-footer for birdie. That left Poston with a four-footer to seal the win.

“Yeah, I told myself this is what you dream of. You got a putt to win on the PGA Tour. Just try and forget about the last two. Didn’t make very good strokes on either of them, but I told myself I’ve made a million of these and just do one more.”

He buried it.

Poston finished the week — which had featured rollercoaster weather, starts and stops and two very different sides of the draw — at 22 under par, shooting (a numerically satisfying sequence of) 64-65-66-67 to claim his third career victory on the PGA Tour. His maiden win came at the Wyndham Championship in 2019 and his second came at the 2022 John Deere Championship. Now he has another win in another time zone. He has a Masters invite. He has a world ranking inside the top 50.

Poston’s win was also his first as a father. He and his wife welcomed their daughter Katherine Scott Poston — whom they call “Scottie” — back in March.

“This one is definitely pretty sweet,” Poston said. “We’ve had a great fall at home — just being at home, being a Dad has been the greatest gift.”

Ghim finished in solo second at 21 under par. Matti Schmid and Rico Hoey finished T3 at 19 under. Michael Kim, Davis Thompson and K.H. Lee rounded out the top five at 18 under par. Gary Woodland (T9) posted his best finish since he underwent brain surgery last fall. And amateur Ian Gilligan finished T16 after a 66-65 weekend.

The FedEx Cup Fall rolls on with next week’s Zozo Championship in Japan.