THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY WORKDAY

June 7, 2026

J.T. Poston

Muirfield Village

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome the winner of the 2026 Memorial Tournament Presented By Workday, J.T. Poston, to the interview room. Welcome. Obviously, Jack Nicklaus, tournament founder and host is here as well.

How does that sound when you're announced as that?

J.T. POSTON: It sounds like a dream. Just incredibly proud, incredibly humbled. This is one of the events that we have circled on our calendar at the start of the year every year, and it just feels amazing to get it done, and just to be a part of the rich history here. We were talking about the past winners. It's a good bunch, and to be able to add my name to that list is incredible.

THE MODERATOR: Mr. Nicklaus, we'll get a comment from you. Just what an exciting finish. This tournament always delivers and you've got the postman sitting next to you, but that playoff was spectacular and the fans were treated to --

JACK NICKLAUS: The first day, you know, bordered on a hard day to play, and the second day a very, very difficult, and of course, J.T. just ran away from the field with that 65. It looked like nobody was going to catch him. And he didn't fall back. It's tough leading on this golf course out here.

And then we had what happened yesterday. He had to play 30 holes to finish up today. You know, to keep that and then all of a sudden lose his lead and then be strong enough to come back and do it again. You did it a couple times today, and that was pretty special. So very happy for him, very proud of him. I told him, I said, You're now approaching the prime of your career. (Laughing).

THE MODERATOR: Perfect. Before we take some questions, J.T., there was a lot of good shots out there, but that one in regulation on the last hole, that iron shot into the green there, knowing that you needed to make birdie, talk us through that and how impressive was that and what was that feeling like when it landed on the green?

J.T. POSTON: It was a great feeling. I told Aaron, my caddie, when we were walking off the tee, we've had a few scenarios this year. Now, granted several of them were to make the cut on Friday, but we had to birdie the last hole. And it's a similar type of pressure. You've got nothing to lose and just step up there and hit the shot.

And I told him, We've birdied 18 a few times this year. Let's go do it again. So to be able to pull it off at a tournament like this and on a hole like 18 at Muirfield Village is incredible.

THE MODERATOR: All right. We'll jump into questions.

Q. The club at 18, first of all, what did you hit in there?

J.T. POSTON: 8-iron.

Q. You mentioned on television about not really feeling good about your golf through 13 holes. How did you turn that around? What did you tell yourself? You talked about grit. Basically, how did you do it?

J.T. POSTON: I'm not a quitter, so I hung in there and I just told myself -- I mean, I hit a great putt on 13, right where I wanted and just didn't fall. But I told myself on 14 tee -- I was one back with five to go, still felt like I had a chance. I needed to play the last five holes really well. And I told myself I knew I was going to be shaking Mr. Nicklaus's hand walking off 18 no matter what, and I want to be proud of the effort when I did. So just to do it the way that I did, birdieing three of the last five, is a dream come true and something I'll certainly carry with me the rest of my career.

Q. I'm curious what last night and this morning were even like knowing you were either about to last this marathon day and win the biggest tournament of your career or give it away, unfortunately, and then have to play basically 67 holes over two days at the qualifier too. How do you deal with that this morning?

J.T. POSTON: Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, the goal was to have the trophy at the end of the day, and that was kind of what I just kept focusing on. I didn't allow myself to marinate in those negative thoughts. I just told myself -- I mean, it's natural for them to pop up, but when they did, I just tried to focus on the positive of I have a great opportunity to win an incredible golf tournament tomorrow, and that was the goal starting the week, and I would have taken that position at the start of the week. So that was kind of the mentality.

Q. Especially now knowing you just had to win it through a playoff, how tired do you think you would have been tomorrow if you had to do that?

J.T. POSTON: Man, very tired. We would have found a way, but I sort of told myself in the playoff that this is my U.S. Open qualifier. This is my chance to get in. I want to play in the majors. I want to play in the big events. This is a huge boost of confidence for me and my game and knowing that I can compete in those and play in those. Just thrilled to get it done.

Q. When you talk about not being a quitter, was that tested when you had a 12-footer for par on 17 and you watched Ryan throw it in from 40?

J.T. POSTON: Yeah, I mean, I told Aaron we needed to finish at -- you know, at least 11, and then he make that's long putt, and I knew exactly what I needed to do. I needed to make that putt, and I knew I needed to birdie 18. Because he was playing solid, I didn't feel like he was going to make a 5 on 18. So it was very hard to lay up on 17. We were back and forth between trying to hit a 5- or 6-iron up there, but the lie was just thick enough to where I wasn't sure if it was going to come out good enough. If we try and do that, then that's a good way to shoot us right out of the tournament. So by laying up we were still able to have a chance.

Q. As it relates to the qualifier tomorrow, did you even bother with any of the scenarios? Did you know what you needed to do in case you didn't win?

J.T. POSTON: No, I didn't know. I knew a win would get it done and that was pretty much what my focus was on, was trying to win the golf tournament, and I would figure it out afterwards if I didn't.

Q. Do you know the last time you played 33 in a day? And then the second part is this course is so challenging. Just walk us through the mental fatigue and having to keep that focus from early to late.

J.T. POSTON: Yeah, I don't know the last time I played 32 or 33. It might have been one of those qualifiers several years ago. But it felt like it had been awhile. It felt like more than 32 today, just, like you said, with the mental fatigue. It's a long day and playing with the lead for that long is a grind. But I feel like I did a great job of staying patient and not getting ahead of myself. I know it's a hard golf course and anything can happen all the way up until the last hole.

So I felt like we did a great job of not getting ahead of ourselves despite not necessarily playing our best the first 13 holes, and, you know, at the end of the day, we were able to get it done.

Q. J.T., what does it mean to have Flener on your bag? Obviously, you guys have had a tough year, so just to have him by your side for this.

J.T. POSTON: Yeah, he's been incredible. There's been times when I've certainly had my doubts about my game, and he's been the steady head, the foundation in the pair to just, you know, keep plugging along, keep working at it. We're not quitters, like I said, and so we knew we had -- we knew we were working on the right things to make this happen and I feel like he probably believed it before I did. But just incredibly proud of how we've stuck it out and we make a good team.

Q. Mr. Nicklaus, what do you think of the birdie on 18 in regulation from J.T.?

JACK NICKLAUS: The birdie on 18 what?

Q. What did you think of it, just watching it?

JACK NICKLAUS: Not a bad score, particularly when you need it. I thought watching today -- of course, I did TV in the tower, so I watched J.T. play a lot of golf today and saw a lot of golf the previous days. The thing that impressed me most about him is the tempo of his golf swing and rhythm never changed. I think that, to me, it looked like you worked on that very hard.

J.T. POSTON: That is something that I was focusing on out there. As the adrenaline got going that was the focus.

JACK NICKLAUS: It was pretty obvious to me that he was trying to keep the same pace. And I said, when somebody does that and particularly under pressure, when he had to, and to see that in the second shot he played into 18, both times were fantastic shots. So it's just not easy to do what he did.

Q. J.T., you hadn't ranked outside the top 100 in putting since your rookie year, and you came in this week, I think, 110th or something. I'm wondering, you putted wonderfully this week. What was the difference there? New putter? New approach?

J.T. POSTON: A little bit of both. I've always felt like putting is a strength of my game, and I would say the last year or so it just has been a little streaky for my liking, and I decided to make a switch from a putter that I had used for a long time to -- last week was the first time I put it in play.

And just immediately it feels great when I set it down. I feel like right away it just gave me a bunch of confidence standing over it. When you get on greens this good this week, you're going to -- if you hit good putts, you're going to make a lot of putts. Definitely I feel like that boosted my confidence and we'll probably keep it in there for a little while.

Q. What's the putter?

J.T. POSTON: It's a TaylorMade Spider. I'm not sure details outside of that. I'm not a huge -- I'm not super into my, you know, I guess setup, but it looked good to me, so I used it.

Q. Not only did you have to watch Ryan hit that 40-foot putt, but at one point in time you were neck and neck with five -- or four other golfers. Can you just describe how you kind of blocked that out and focused on your own game, especially after a marathon day like today?

J.T. POSTON: Yeah, it was a little bit of a different approach. I mean, we were leading most of the day, so I felt like we were trying to balance trying to extend the lead and be aggressive in spots, but also not make any big mistakes. We didn't do the best job of that the first 12, 13 holes. But at that point when we're all tied, you kind of almost flip a switch and you've got to be aggressive and go try and win the golf tournament. That's something that I've never shied away from, I feel like, throughout my career. Just to have a chance, that was all we were looking for.

Q. Mr. Nicklaus, can you just describe your reaction to seeing five golfers tied after the 16th hole, just an intense day after a marathon?

JACK NICKLAUS: I looked at the board and I see five guys going down 17 and they're all tied? I said, We may be here a long time tonight. And then Tommy bogeyed 17 -- or no, Sam Burns bogeyed 17. Did anybody birdie 17?

J.T. POSTON: Ryan birdied 17.

JACK NICKLAUS: To go to 12-under, didn't he? Ryan birdied 17. All of a sudden it went from five guys tied to two guys out of it, except that an I stood over there and I nudged my wife and said, Barbara, if Sam makes this putt, you know, Ryan's still got himself a 5-footer. We could be back into a big playoff again. Didn't happen that way. Sam made a nice putt but just didn't go in. J.T., what a putt, what a second shot and what a putt he made. I mean, that hole is -- that's the toughest hole on the golf course to birdie to start with. And he just rammed it in there twice. Didn't have to make the second one, but you were right there, you forced that situation. And that was really, really good golf.

Q. Two things J.T. and this is really, really small, but if you did think you had a chance to get to the green on 17 what club was in your hand or did the club never make it to your hand?

J.T. POSTON: I was looking at a, it was I was looking at a 5- and a 6-iron. But it was kind of one of those, the 6 was probably not going to get to the green, and the 5 was probably going to maybe be enough, if it came out how I thought it would. But it just was, it's just thick enough hitting along iron and hitting it straight and missing it in the right place was going to be really hard. Laying it up to a good wedge number, having some room behind it to give myself a look, and we executed exactly how we wanted. After Ryan made his putt that made that putt honestly a little easier, I knew exactly what I needed to do.

Q. Made it easier?

J.T. POSTON: I had to make it. Yeah.

Q. Did you see that, Jack?

JACK NICKLAUS: No if and ands, he had to make it.

Q. Did you find those easier to make when you had to make 'em?

JACK NICKLAUS: I think sometimes when you have to make a putt and you find yourself in that position that you say, Well, I don't have any choice, I got to make it. I can't be, you know, wishy washy about it, I can't sort of maybe lay it up, maybe make it, maybe not take a chance. I got to make it, so I got to make it. So, yeah, I think by and large I think those are easier, actually.

Q. The other thing, when you mentioned not letting negative thoughts marinate, I think that's the word you used, marinate. Western Carolina --

JACK NICKLAUS: Are you talking to me or J.T.?

Q. When you were off to the start you did this year, 13 tournaments, five months of not really threatening anything, and I know you said you were trending and you're probably the only one that believed it, did you let any negativity creep into your head? Is it hard to block it out?

J.T. POSTON: I mean, I think it's natural to have some doubts and I think it's certainly something that I've been working on and something that I've tried to work on this year. It's tested my patience more than any other year out here for me. I think this is just great validation that if I keep my head down and keep working on it and keep doing what I know is the right thing to do to play my best golf, then I can win big golf tournaments.

Q. Was Aaron any help?

J.T. POSTON: A huge help. A huge help. He's got a lot more patience than me.

THE MODERATOR: All right, J.T. congratulations once again, a wonderful victory. Mr. Nicklaus, thank you for hosting such a wonderful tournament. And Aneel, thank you so much for sponsoring the event.