Among the many good things J.T. Poston did in winning the John Deere Classic wire-to-wire was disguise his feelings.
Poston is one of those guys who rolls along on the course, his expression rarely changing, his emotions consistently under control.
That’s the way it looked as Poston rolled to a three-stroke victory Sunday over Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Emiliano Grillo for his second PGA Tour victory. That’s not necessarily the way it was, however.
“It is hard to go wire-to-wire. Having the lead that long it’s hard not to think about … that finish line.”
J.T. Poston
“I was just trying to breathe,” Poston said after also securing his first appearance in the Open Championship in two weeks.
“There were a lot of nerves, a lot more than the first few days. I was just trying to battle through them. After this week, I feel like I can play with those nerves and still win.
With a first-round 62 at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, Poston opened a lead that he never relinquished, riding the momentum from a T2 finish at the Travelers Championship into a victory that transformed his season. Poston has missed 14 cuts in 24 starts this season, but the past two events have bumped him to 22nd in the FedEx Cup race.
“I think the beauty of J.T. – and there are a lot of guys like him – he never gets too high with the highs or too low with the lows. He just kind of stays pretty steady,” said Zach Johnson, a friend of Poston’s.
“Like everybody, we're competitors and frustrated when we're going south, and we're ecstatic when we're going north. He just stays right here. I don't think emotion is something that he really has to worry about a whole lot. I think that's a good thing.”
It was a slightly different spot on the PGA Tour schedule for the long-standing event, moving off its familiar place immediately preceding the Open Championship, and it affected the strength of the field.
With the Genesis Scottish Open this week being the first co-sanctioned event between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, most of the top players took the week off (or jumped to LIV Golf). Regardless, Poston was the player in command from start to finish, looking unperturbed and seemingly unfazed by the demands after every round.
Now, he’s heading to the Old Course at St. Andrews, along with Bezuidenhout and Grillo, who also earned spots in the Open Championship.
“I can’t wait,” Poston said. “I’ve always wanted to play in one of those. For my first to be at St. Andrews and the 150th, I can’t wait to get there.”
Ron Green Jr.