J.T. Poston joins growing list of first-time PGA TOUR winners
J.T. Poston became the latest first-time winner on the PGA TOUR with his victory at the Wyndham Championship, proving the talent pool in golf is as deep as it’s ever been.
J.T. Poston won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday afternoon, and if you’re like a lot of golf fans out there, you’re having this thought.
Who the heck is J.T. Poston?
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Understand that I mean literally no disrespect to Poston in his moment of well-earned glory, but it’s getting a bit difficult to keep up with the exceedingly deep list of talented players on the PGA TOUR. So, really, what I’m saying is that J.T. Poston joining the ranks of newly-minted TOUR winners in 2019 is a pretty huge compliment, as more and more players outside the “usual suspects” prove they have every bit of what it takes to get it done.
Poston wasn’t necessarily on anybody’s radar heading into the Wyndham Championship. But he’s been around the block a couple of times now, having graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour in 2016 and now three full seasons deep into his PGA TOUR career. In 2018, he made the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the first time. And now, he’s closed out the best year of his career with a landmark victory.
That first victory will stay with Poston for the rest of his life, but he’s not alone in that feeling this year. Far from it, actually. He became the 14th first-time winner in the 2019 season, with just three of them coming in alternate field events. Let’s review, shall we?
- Kevin Tway – Safeway Open
- Cameron Champ – Sanderson Farms (alternate WGC-HSBC Champions)
- Adam Long – Desert Classic
- Martin Trainer – Puerto Rico Open (alternate WGC Mexico)
- Keith Mitchell – Honda Classic
- Corey Conners – Valero Texas Open
- C.T. Pan – RBC Heritage
- Max Homa – Wells Fargo Championship
- Sung Kang – AT&T Byron Nelson
- Nate Lashley – Rocket Mortgage Classic
- Matthew Wolff – 3M Open
- Dylan Frittelli – John Deere Classic
- Collin Morikawa – Barracuda Championship (Opposite WGC-FedEx St. Jude)
Through 43 tournaments (counting the weeks with alternate fields), almost one of every three has gone to a first-time winner. As good as guys like Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson can be, there’s almost never a week where you can hand it over to a “top guy” ahead of time.
J.T. Poston made his own mark in a big way on Sunday, closing the first bogey-free tournament on the PGA TOUR in 45 years. The last player to pull that feat off was Lee Trevino, in 1974 at the Greater New Orleans Open. Actually, check that, Trevino was the only other player to pull that off. Talk about some rarefied air.
"“I probably haven’t had that many bogey-free rounds this year,” Poston said. “To be able to do four in a row is pretty special, and finish it off with a 62 on Sunday is pretty awesome.”"
That it certainly was. Poston will now head to THE NORTHERN TRUST, where he’ll begin his second FedEx Cup Playoff journey ranked 27th, and with a clear path at least to the BMW Championship next week. If he can keep up this peak performance, who knows what could happen on the way to the Tour Championship?
dark. Next. THE NORTHERN TRUST 2019 Power Rankings
One thing is for sure: J.T. Poston is up for the challenge of whatever comes next, especially as he continues to find his game under the bright lights of the PGA TOUR. What more could anyone ask for?