SouthernWorldwide.com – Golf has a way of humbling even the most accomplished players in the world, and J.T. Poston experienced this firsthand at the Travelers Championship on Sunday.
What began as an opportunity for Poston to score well on the 13th hole, a par-5, after reaching the green in two shots, quickly devolved into a spectacular collapse. The world No. 32 in the Official World Golf Ranking ended up recording a 12 on the hole, a score that derailed his entire round and tournament.
While Poston was not in contention for the win, the disastrous 12 on the 13th hole was the primary reason for his final standing. He finished the tournament 6-over par, and 1-over for the event, placing him in 69th among the 72 players who made the cut.
The sequence of events on the 13th hole was as follows: Poston hit a solid tee shot that found the fairway. His second shot landed in a greenside bunker, a position often manageable for professionals with strong short games, offering a chance at birdie.
However, things quickly went awry. His bunker shot came up short, leaving him with a chipping situation. Even this was not an insurmountable obstacle, with a chance to save par after a good chip.
The true nightmare began on his fourth shot, which sailed across the green and landed in the water on the other side. This necessitated a drop, and then two more drops, as Poston struggled to get his ball back onto the green and out of trouble near the water.
By his 10th stroke, Poston finally managed to get his ball onto the putting surface. He then missed his 11th putt before tapping in for a score of 12, concluding the remarkable meltdown in front of the spectators.
Poston later explained the difficulty of the situation, particularly with the multiple drops near the water where the ball kept rolling back into the hazard. He noted that the lie was not conducive to simply blasting the ball out, as is sometimes possible from rough.
“It’s not really rough, where you can kind of blast it out,” Poston said. “It’s into the grain, but it looks like you can get enough golf ball on it, which is why I kept trying to hit a good chip.”
When asked if he considered attempting to putt from the greenside rough, given the struggles with chipping, Poston expressed concerns about the ball’s momentum. He felt a putt would lack the necessary speed to overcome the green’s false front.
“I feel like it’s just going to hop and that takes all the speed out of it,” he responded. “And you’ve got this big false front you got to get it over. So my worry with trying to putt it was it would not have enough speed to really get there.”
The difficult hole seemed to have a lingering effect, as Poston went on to record a double bogey on the par-4 14th hole, further dropping him down the leaderboard. He ultimately finished the round with a 76, concluding his tournament.
Meanwhile, the Travelers Championship was headed for a playoff on Monday. Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler found themselves tied at 21-under par after Scheffler made a crucial putt to force the extra holes. Hovland’s attempt to win on the final hole narrowly missed, allowing Scheffler to capitalize and extend the competition.
