Pro golfer's disastrous final hole cost him $260,000 — and probably a lot more in the long run. But he doesn't regret his risky shot.

• JT Poston fell apart on the final hole of the 3M Open, posting a triple-bogey.
• By falling out of second place, he lost $260,000 and maybe a shot at other lucrative tourneys.

JT Poston was in line for one of the biggest and most important days of his career, and then disaster struck.

Poston entered the final hole of the 3M Open seemingly locked into a second-place finish. He was three strokes behind the leader Lee Hodges, who was at 23-under, and three ahead of a pair of golfers in third place at 17-under.

However, Poston thought he still had a chance to win, considering the 18th hole at TPC Twin Cities is one of the most gnarly in golf. Last year, more balls were hit in the water at this tournament (303) than any other on the PGA Tour, and this year, 70 balls went into the lake on the 18th hole alone.

But instead of the tournament leader getting wet, it was Poston. His tee shot nearly landed in the water, and then he went for the green with his second shot and ended up in the lake after hitting some rocks.

After three-putting, Poston finished the Par 5 in eight strokes for a triple-bogey. By falling into a tie for second place instead of holding the spot alone, Poston's earnings went from $850,000 to $590,000. That's a pretty good week, but still a big loss for a player who has only two career wins and had made about $2.1 million this year before this tournament.

But there is more.

As Dylan Dethier of Golf Magazine noted, Poston also lost out on more than 90 FedEx Cup points, dropping from 300 for a solo second-place finish to 208.3 for the tie.

"Why is that a big deal? Because Poston, like many of his peers, is fighting for a spot in the top 50 in the year-end FedEx Cup standings, a cutoff that would earn him a spot in next year's designated events," Dethier wrote. "He entered 3M Open week in 60th place. Now he's 49th. But solo second would have yielded 91.7 additional points, leaving him 38th instead, well inside the top 50 cutoff. From there he could have set his sights on the the top 30 and the Tour Championship rather than focusing on who was nipping at his heels."

If Poston misses the Tour Championship, as expected now, he misses out on a shot at one of the biggest prizes on the PGA Tour — a $3.1 million check to the winner.

In addition, Poston is now in danger of missing out on a guaranteed spot in the PGA Tour's new "designated events." Those 17 tournaments feature the top golfers in the world, most of the biggest purses outside of the golf majors, and elevated exposure for the golfers' sponsors.

After this week's gut-wrenching final hole, Poston defended his decision to go for the win on Twitter.

It's always refreshing to hear a professional athlete say they care more about winning than the money, and it is what the fans deserve. But by playing the final hole of the 3M Open like one of the fans, Poston cost himself money and maybe some guaranteed spots in some of golf's biggest events.