The man they call “The Postman” has been trending toward a desert delivery in recent years.
Perhaps this 65th annual version of The American Express will find PGA Tour veteran J.T. Poston signed, stamped and sealed in the winner’s circle come Sunday afternoon.
After a steady, seven-under 65 at La Quinta Country Club on Friday, the 30-year-old two-time Tour winner stands in a logjam tied for 17th at 12 under, five shots behind AmEx leader Sam Burns.
“I would not be complaining about a 65 if you told me that (number) at the start of this day, but I just got off to such a great start and had a chance to shoot something really low and get right up there by the lead,” Poston said. “I can’t complain much about where I’m at, but I feel like I left a few out there.”
Starting on La Quinta’s back side, Poston’s great start included back-to-back birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 before an eagle on the par-5 13th. Additional scorecard circles on holes 15 and 17 saw Poston author a 30 on his opening nine.
Desert success isn’t foreign to the 36th ranked player in the world. Playing in the desert tournament for the eighth consecutive year, Poston has a pair of top-10s on his American Express resume, including a tie for sixth last season.
Moreover, Poston’s influence on fairways beyond La Quinta have been equally impressive.
Dating to July of last year, he has seven top-10 finishes in his past 11 events. In the 2024 season to-date, Poston earned a tie for fifth at the season-opening Sentry, before placing sixth at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, just solid golf,” Poston said. “I don’t feel like I was playing any better at the end of the season last year, but just getting more and more comfortable in that position at or around the top of the leaderboard. Whereas my first few years out here (on Tour), I paid a bit more attention to finishing top-20 or so, but now I feel like all the best players in the world aren’t worried about finishing in the top-20. They’re worried about winning tournaments. I’m trying to have that same mentality.”
That mentality was evident by Poston’s aggressive driver play on the quirky, water-laden par-4 eighth, a hole which often draws low iron play from most pros.
“The scores are so low out here that you can never l really let your foot off the gas,” said Poston. “Even if you have a tee ball like that which is a little more uncomfortable, you just have to step up there and hit a good one. And it paid off, because we had just 85 yards in (and made birdie).”
Known for a languid swing and easy drawl, the native of Hickory, North Carolina, appeared at-ease in the desert setting Friday, despite letting a few makeable putts slip away in his closing stretch.
The missed opportunities had no bearing on his outlook for the weekend.
“I love it. I think it’s a good tournament, I like the golf courses a lot and I’ve played well here,” Poston said. “It’s different from a normal week, obviously, getting to play with some of the amateurs and getting to meet some pretty cool people, some very successful business men and women. And you never know who you’re gonna’ meet.”
Such fortune found Poston’s Friday pairing. While MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was dueling in the event’s pro-am at PGA West, La Quinta County Club had its own sporting leader. Playing alongside Poston and last week’s Tour winner, Grayson Murray, was WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
“She asked who we were fans of,” said Poston of conversations with Engelbert. “I’m mostly a college hoops guy, but we were talking that we need to get a WNBA game in Atlanta, which I think is the closest team to home.”
While Poston added that he doesn’t pay attention to PGA Tour picks or prognosticators – many of whom had him on a short list to win this week – he intimated that he’s surely game to extend his fine play of late toward a birdie-laden weekend. Saturday’s third round will no doubt offer such opportunity on the Nicklaus Tournament Course.
“La Quinta is notorious for being the easiest of the three courses. Usually see a lot of low scores over here,” Poston said. “But Nicklaus is one where, yeah, there’s trouble around, but it you’re hitting it good, you can make a lot of birdies there, too; and we’ve seen that with scoring over there the past couple days.”
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