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A marathon Sunday produced one of the tightest races of the PGA Tour season. With five players tied for the lead and just three holes to play, it was Ryan Gerard and J.T. Poston who pulled away from the pack at the eleventh hour and required a playoff at the 2026 Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village to identify a champion.
In extra holes, it was Poston who reigned supreme as the 54-hole leader made par on the second playoff hole to secure a handshake with tournament host Jack Nicklaus. This came after Gerard made a 38-foot birdie on No. 17 in regulation to secure a one-stroke lead with one to play. Poston tied Gerard with a birdie on the 72nd hole from 7 feet, 5 inches.
Both players finished the tournament at 12 under with Poston's total coming courtesy of a final-round 72. Wyndham Clark finished one stroke outside the playoff at 11 under while Sam Burns and Tommy Fleetwood fell two short of the playoff as both players made bogey on the par-4 17th.
Poston represents the seventh different winner in signature events this season. In 2025, all eight signature events were won by eight different players. This win represents the biggest of Poston's career as his fourth and earns him a spot in the field at the U.S. Open in two weeks' time.
Here are the rest of the notable names on the leaderboard at the 2026 Memorial.
P2. Ryan Gerard (-12): Backtracked in the morning hours by playing his final six holes of the third round in 2 over, but he came out firing in the final round. Making up four strokes to Poston across the final 18 holes, Gerard found himself with the solo lead in the middle of the fairway on the 72nd hole. A par would have been enough most tournaments, but it was not in this edition as Poston poured in a clutch birdie to force a playoff where he ultimately won. Gerard continues to exude confidence and with a newfound feel on the greens, more chances at his second PGA Tour win will continue to come. Grade: A
T4. Tommy Fleetwood (-10): For a brief moment, Fleetwood fought his way to the top alone as he was the first player to reach 11 under in the latter stages of the tournament courtesy of a laser approach with his fairway wood on the par-5 15th to set up an eagle. Fleetwood compounded mistakes a couple holes later as a missed fairway off the tee was followed by a layup that kept him out of position ended with an untimely bogey on the card. The result is his second quality finish in his last three starts as he begins to rediscover the form that he possessed last summer. Grade: A
T12. Rory McIlroy (-4): Looked like he was going to go nuclear Sunday as he started his final round with five birdies across his first six holes. A bogey on the par-5 7th halted his momentum as some miscues in the short-game category held him back over the course of the week. In his lone start between the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open, McIlroy's iron play remained sharp as did his driving as his misses were tighter off the tee.
"My iron play was better, wedge play was good," McIlroy said. Off the tee still wasn't where I want it to be. Thankfully the fairways at Shinnecock are a little wider than they are here. But, yeah, still need to work on that. I need to work on how I'm hitting it off the tee. But everything else, putting felt pretty good, for the most part. As I said, iron play and wedges were pretty nice. Yeah, just try to keep getting a little bit better each and every day heading into Shinnecock." Grade: B
T12. Scottie Scheffler (-4): The week started in frustrating fashion as the world No. 1 opened with a 73 and battled some cutline jitters on Friday. Ultimately, it ended in unspectacular fashion. Unable to win his third straight Memorial, Scheffler heads into his first attempt at the career grand slam at the U.S. Open in two weeks without a win since his first start of the season.
He was middle of the road in terms of strokes gained approach, greens in regulation and strokes gained putting in his 32nd straight event in which he finished inside the top 25. Scheffler is still the best player in the world as the finish marks his fifth outside the top 10 this season -- two more than he had in both 2024 and 2025.
"Overall, I would say pretty frustrating, but the way I played the last two days I definitely feel a lot better with kind of where things are at than I did coming off the course on Friday," Scheffler said. "I guess I should say in the middle of the round Friday. I started hitting some did good shots on the back nine Friday, and then I played decent the last couple days. I just wasn't sharp enough to make the big move that I needed to make." Grade: B-
MC. Jordan Spieth (—): After posting a round in red figures on Thursday, Spieth was sent packing on Friday courtesy of a second-round 79. The early exit made it officially one year since his most recent top-10 finish as he continues the elusive search to piece the entirety of his game together for the entirety of a tournament. There have been positive signs in the year since, but a result of any kind has yet to materialize. Grade: F
