While Lee Hodges had seemingly sucked most of the drama out of the last few holes of the 3M Open, his playing partner J.T. Poston provided plenty at the last possible moment.
That drama cost Poston $390,000.
The two were heading down the par-5 18th hole at TPC Twin Cities with Hodges holding a comfortable three-shot lead over Poston, who was three shots clear of third place. Hodges, looking for his first PGA Tour victory, hit his tee shot left and into the rough. Poston, a two-time PGA Tour winner, hit his drive right, a step or so from the water and within the red hazard line.
After a long discussion with caddie Aaron Flener, Poston opted to give it a go from 200 metres, with the ball a foot below his feet on a shot that required nearly the entire distance to be carried over water. The ball came out low, bounced off rocks guarding the front of the green and hit the 3M Open sign that was in the water.
After a drop, Poston laid up to 90 metres, only needing to hit the ball on the green from there and two-putt for double-bogey 7 to secure outright second place. But he missed the green short, putted it from 30 feet away to five feet and missed that putt before tapping in for a triple-bogey 8 to back into a three-way tie for second place at 17-under par.
An outright second-place finish would’ve given Poston $US850,000. The second-place tie with Martin Laird and Kevin Streelman gave Poston $US590,200. The $US260,000 difference converts to $A390,000.
“At the end of the day it’s not the way I wanted to end, but I had to try and give it a shot and see if there was some way I could make 3 there at the end and put some pressure on Lee,” said Poston, who shot 69 and later reiterated his thoughts on Twitter. “It was a shot that was going to be hard to pull off, but we weren’t playing for second place. I had to give it a shot.”
Not out here to finish 2nd. Trying to win. Would make that decision 10 times out of 10 under circumstances https://t.co/GHsIErHCil
— J.T. Poston (@JT_ThePostman) July 30, 2023
Laird and Streelman both produced some impressive play on the final hole earlier, not knowing that it ultimately would be worth more money and FedEx Cup points. Laird made a 20-foot putt for eagle on the last to shoot 64 and Streelman hit a wedge to eight feet and made that for birdie to shoot 66.
The threesome was a shot ahead of Dylan Wu and Keith Mitchell in fifth place, but seven shots behind Hodges, who shot a final-round 67.
