J.T. Poston won the 2026 Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 7, beating Ryan Gerard with a three-foot par putt on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. The victory, his fourth on the PGA Tour and his biggest to date, arrived one week after he overhauled key pieces of his equipment.
Poston switched to a Titleist Pro V1x Left Dash golf ball and a TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, where he finished T35. He also added a TaylorMade Qi4D 7-wood. He used that updated setup the next week in Dublin, Ohio, and won.
The win also secured Poston’s place in the U.S. Open in two weeks, sparing him from 36 holes of Monday final qualifying. He entered the Memorial ranked No. 94 in the Official World Golf Ranking and No. 114 in the FedEx Cup standings.
What Changed in the Bag
The ball switch traced back to the PGA Championship, where Poston approached Titleist’s Tour team seeking better performance in the wind. He and Titleist representative J.J. Van Wezenbeeck settled on the Pro V1x Left Dash, a firmer, lower-spinning option, and put it in play at Fort Worth.
The putter change came at the same time. Poston moved to the TaylorMade Spider Tour X, a newly launched model, replacing his previous putter. The Qi4D 7-wood, set at 21 degrees, rounded out the refresh.
Asked earlier in the week which change helped him most after shooting 65 in tough Friday conditions, Poston kept it simple.
“Both. The ball got me there, the putter helped me get it in the hole,” he said.
How Fast It Paid Off
The Friday 65 was the clearest evidence that the changes were working before Sunday’s playoff. In windy conditions at Muirfield Village, Poston’s second round was nine shots better than the field average. He recorded just 24 putts and picked up four strokes on the field with his putting alone, according to GOLF.com. That round left him one shot clear after 36 holes.
‘It’s supposed to help me a little bit in the wind, So we felt like today was going to be a good test of that and it obviously performed really well. We had a couple shots that I felt like didn’t quite hit ’em perfect and it hung in there pretty well.’
Commented Poston regarding the ball change.
For the week, Poston gained nearly seven strokes on the greens and ranked third in the field in strokes gained putting, per GOLF.com. The putter swap was less than two weeks old and already paying off at one of the Tour’s toughest venues.
Sunday’s Comeback
Poston entered the final round with a four-shot lead, then lost it. He shot an even-par 72 and finished at 12-under 276, needing three birdies in his final five holes to force the playoff with Gerard.
‘I just told myself on 14 tee I was one back with five to go, still felt like I had a chance. I’m not a quitter, so I hung in there.’
On his approach to the final green in regulation, he was direct about the stakes: “I knew exactly what I needed to do. I had to make it.”
He did, then handled the playoff in two holes.
GOLF.com also noted that Poston was the first winner on the PGA Tour with a Titleist GTS driver, the GTS3 model set at 9 degrees with a Mitsubishi Diamana BF 60 TX shaft. The rest of his iron setup remained familiar, with Titleist T150 and T100 irons and four Vokey Design SM10 wedges.
What Comes Next
Poston now heads to the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills with a setup that held up in wind and a playoff at Jack Nicklaus’s home tournament. After two weeks, the changes look likely to stay in the bag.