Weekly PGA Recap: Poston Does the Most

This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.

This is the time of year when many golfers, especially the better golfers, play sporadically. Which makes potential rustiness a consideration when formulating DFS lineups or trying to target a winner in any format. Especially opposite guys who have been teeing it up every week during the fall season.

Note to self: J.T. Poston does not get rusty, thank you very much.

Poston returned from nearly two months off to win the wind-ravaged Shriners Children's Open by one stroke over Doug Ghim on Sunday at TPC Summerlin. Despite the harsh conditions that favored the early/late tee times -- Poston benefited, Ghim didn't -- the winning score was still 22-under par, far better than the 14.5 over/under posted by golfodds.com. 

Poston thus won for the third time in his PGA Tour, following the 2019 Wyndham and 2022 John Deere. He toed for third at the Shriners a year ago. (Another note to self: Poston likes TPC Summerlin.)

The 31-year-old Poston had not been seen since he tied for 33rd at the BMW Championship. He took an extended break to spend time with his daughter, Katherine Scott, who had been born at the less-than-optimum time for a PGA Tour pro in March.

So not only was golf rust was a concern, you had to wonder how much sleep Poston was getting. But perhaps counterintuitively, Poston said becoming a first-time father helped his golf.

"Yeah, absolutely," he told reporters in Las Vegas. "I would say the perspective is key in performing out here. I think at times I was definitely guilty of taking it a little too seriously maybe or being a little too hard on myself.

"Since Scottie was born, I feel like that's been a little bit of a 180, and just realizing that golf is not the most important thing. It's honestly far from it. That has given me a little bit more freedom on the golf course, knowing regardless of how I play I get to go home and grab her, hug her, and be with her."

Poston had to come out on Sunday morning to play five holes to complete his third round. One of the best putters on Tour when he's got it going, Poston ranked eighth in the field on the week, with his best showing on Sunday. He birdied four of his final six holes to fend off the hard-charging Ghim.

Even though Poston finished top-50 in the FedExCup Standings and was already in the signature events for next season, this win got him into the season-opening Sentry in January. Technically, it also got him into the Masters and the PGA Championship, though those seemed likely regardless.

Poston is also back in the top 50 of the OWGR at No. 40, just off his career best of 34th.

Now it's back to being a dad. Poston will not be in Japan for this week's ZOZO Championship. The next possible tournament? The season-ending RSM Classic for the Georgia resident. If not, the Sentry in Hawaii in January. 

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Doug Ghim
Not only did Ghim have the best finish of his PGA Tour career in 141 starts, he did it while starting with a highly unfavorable late/early tee time – only three of the top 13 finishers went out late/early. Ghim is an excellent iron player who has usually been slowed by his putter. At the Shriners, he led the field in approach while ranking 25th in putting – all it takes is to putt a little less bad. Ghim moved from 93rd to 70th in the point standings, and now heads to the ZOZO with a chance to move even higher in a limited field.

Matti Schmid
Schmid's excellent fall continued with his second top-5 (T3) in two weeks and only third ever. Already secure well inside the top125, Schmid soared up to 84th.

Rico Hoey
Hoey tied for third. He has not missed a cut since the U.S. Open in June and since then has all four of his career top-10 finishes. He would seem to be a player to keep an eye, not only for the rest of the fall but early next year, as well.

Michael Kim
This week was as important to Kim as almost anyone in the field. Treading water outside the top 125 at No. 129, the veteran tied for fifth to move to 112th, thereby securing his card for next year. Kim was one of two players moving inside the top 125 this week. Joe Highsmith tied for 16th to go from 133rd to 125th. So Highsmith still has work to do to stay inside the threshold.

Davis Thompson
Playing late/early, Thompson tied for fifth by connecting three 66s with a 68. Already in the top 50 of the standings, he could not move up. But Thompson did reach a career-high world ranking of 38th.

K.H. Lee
Lee will be in the ZOZO thanks to so many players in the top 60 of the standings choosing not to head to Japan. He tied for fifth at the Shriners.

Taylor Pendrith
Even though Pendrith opened with a 61 and was part of the early/late wave, he stumbled in the windy conditions on Friday (71), effectively knocking him out of contention. Still, he finished solo eighth.

Harry Hall
The UNLV alum returned to a familiar place and, as expected, did well with a tie for ninth.

Harris English
English recorded a second straight top-10 (T9) to move up to 52nd in the fall point standings. It's unlikely he'll fall out of the top 60 by the end of the year, meaning he will get into two early signature events at Pebble Beach and Riviera.

Gary Woodland
Woodland is now 40 and not far removed from brain surgery. It's been a challenging season, to say the least. But it's getting better. Woodland recorded his first top-10 of the year with a T9 at the Shriners, two weeks after a T16 at the Sanderson Farms. It's a bit of an accomplishment that Woodland is even 137th in the point standings. He does not need to get into the top 125, however, because he has one more year of eligibility thanks to his 2019 U.S. Open win.

Matt Kuchar
Kuchar notched his second top-15 (T14) in three fall events and fourth in his past five events going back to the 3M Open. He'll be in Japan this week for the ZOZO.

Ian Gilligan
The University of Florida senior and Reno, Nev., native, in on a sponsor invite, not only made the cut but he tied for 16th. Gilligan is now two for two in PGA Tour cuts, having made it at the 2024 Barracuda.

Rickie Fowler
Fowler tied for 23rd in his second start since the Open Championship – he took time off for the birth of his second child. Fowler now heads to Japan for the ZOZO.

Joseph Bramlett
It's a minor miracle Bramlett even made the cut (T52). He went viral on Friday amid the howling wind, five-putting from 10 feet on No. 1. Thanks to a good drive and good approach to, um, 10 feet, it was only a triple-bogey. Bramlett then birdied No. 2. Not too shabby. 

MISSED CUTS

Tom Kim was the big name in the field. In fact, he was the tournament favorite and two-time defending champion. He was on the wrong side of the weather, but a lot of guys were and at least made the cut. Other MCs of note were Seamus Power, Keith Mitchell, Eric Cole, Tom Hoge, Stephan Jaeger, Adam Hadwin and Cam Davis.

Joel Dahmen withdrew and fell out of the top 125 to 129th. It was discovered on his fourth hole on Thursday that he had 14 clubs in his bag, resulting in a four-stroke penalty (one for each hole). When you're fighting for your Tour card, what a terrible unforced error. (Kevin Tway was the only other golfer to fall out of the top 125, to 126th.)