Las Vegas (USA), Oct 21 (IANS) American professional J.T. Poston endured a long day to finish the third round with a 66 and then ended the fourth round of the Shriners Children’s Open golf tournament with a 4-under 67 to win his third PGA Tour title and the first since the 2022 John Deere Classic.
Poston had a bunch of birdies to build a comfortable lead in the morning and afternoon, first for a three-shot lead after 54 holes and then made three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the back nine of the final round and led by four shots with three holes to play. Poston still had to sweat it out to the very last putt.
Doug Ghim closed with a 65, making a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole at the TPC Summerlin to close within one shot. Poston lagged his 45-foot birdie putt to 4 feet and sank that for his third career PGA TOUR title.
The winning putt felt a little longer because Poston missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the 16th and a 4-foot par putt on the 17th, either of which would have put the tournament away.
The victory gives Poston a return to the Masters for the third straight year and moves back inside the top 50 in the world. He was playing for the first time since the BMW Championship, wanting to spend time at home with a daughter born in March.
Ghim was runner-up, his highest finish on the PGA Tour.
Matti Schmid closed with a 66 to tie for third with Rico Hoey, who also had a 66. Schmid was No. 125 in the FedExCup Fall — the top 125 keep a full PGA TOUR card for 2025 — when he tied for 16th in Mississippi, finished fifth last week in Utah and tied for third in Las Vegas. He now is up to No. 77.
The PGA Tour next heads to Japan for the Zozo Championship, a 78-man field with no cut, before returning to North America for three tournaments to close out the season.
–IANS
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