[PHOTO: David Becker]
There’s no such thing as a sure thing in Las Vegas, yet when J.T. Poston birdied the 15th hole during the final round of the Shriners Children’s Open to open up a four-shot lead, his live odds went to -10,000, meaning he was a 100-to-1 favourite to win. Five holes later, punters who took those odds were glad they did (despite some late agita) as Poston stayed in control of his game to win his third PGA Tour title by one shot over Doug Ghim.
Although Poston was more than serviceable off the tee, it was around and on the greens where his game was brightest.
On the occasions Poston did miss a green he was steady, getting up and down 12 out of 15 times to rank fifth for the week in scrambling and sixth in strokes gained/around-the-green with his Titleist Vokey SM10 wedges, including a 60-degree WedgeWorks version with Vokey’s K grind.
His putting was equally strong despite a couple of late hiccups, ranking eighth in strokes gained/putting with his Scotty Cameron by Titleist GoLo 5 mallet. Poston picked up more than five shots on the field with the putter, which he has used for all three of his tour wins.
“I put this putter in the bag at the Players Championship in 2019,” Poston told Golf Digest in 2022. “Before that I was using a blade putter [a Scotty Cameron Circa 62] that I had been using forever – 10 or 11 years or so. I finally made the switch to a mallet because I was having trouble being consistent from 10 feet and in. I’ve always been a feel putter, so it was kind of hard to pinpoint what the issue was, but I worked with Drew Page [PGA Tour rep for Scotty Cameron putters] and he was the brains behind the switch. It was a mallet that has a long line in the flange that he felt would help with the alignment on those putts and it was just something that I noticed an improvement with right away on a week-to-week basis. The confidence from closer in led to more confidence on the longer putts as well because I wasn’t fearing the comebacker as much. It’s been in the bag ever since.”
With this latest win, it’s likely to be in the bag a while longer as well.
What J.T. Poston had in the bag at the 2024 Shriner’s Children’s Open:
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: Titleist GT3 (Mitsubishi Diamana BF 60 TX), 9 degrees
3-wood: Titleist TS2, 15 degrees
Hybrid: Titleist TS2, 19 degrees
Irons (4): Titleist U•500; (5-9): Titleist T100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey S10 (46, 50, 55 degrees); Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks (60 degrees)
Putter: Scotty Cameron by Titleist GoLo 5
