Kenny Perry played one of the 'top five' rounds of his life to win the Memorial by two strokes on Sunday.
Perry, who started the final round three strokes behind overnight leader Mathew Goggin, produced a flawless front nine to hit the front and never surrendered his lead over the difficult back nine at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
He carded 69 to finish at eight-under-par 280, while Goggin (74) tied for second on six-under 282 with Mike Weir (71), Justin Rose (71) and Jerry Kelly (71).
'It was one of the greatest rounds I remember in a long time, playing in tough conditions,' the 47-year-old Perry said after becoming the oldest player to win the prestigious Jack Nicklaus-hosted event.
'I shot three under on the front nine and it could have been six under. I mean, I had it close on every hole. My iron shots were precise.'
He also became the second player after Tiger Woods to win the Memorial three times, picking up US dollars 1,080,000 for his 10th PGA Tour title.
Perry jumped to fifth on this year's money list and, more importantly, also rose to fifth on the American Ryder Cup standings.
He is desperate to play the September event against Europe, because it will be held at Valhalla in his home state of Kentucky.
'This may solidify my spot,' he said.
'When (captain Paul) Azinger said that the guys on his team are going to have to win tournaments, that really changed my thinking.
'I feel I can be a big part of that team and score points.'
Perry was tied for the lead with Weir after nine holes, and a tidy back nine that comprised seven pars, one birdie and one bogey got the job done in style.
His bogey came at the par-four 17th, where he missed a five-foot putt, but by then he had built a three-shot cushion, so the mistake did not prove costly, especially after Kelly missed a three-foot birdie chance that would have cut the margin to one.
'I know there were things going on inside my head that weren't routine,' said Kelly, whose putt broke sharply to the left.
Rose, meanwhile, made a hot start with two early birdies, followed by an unlikely eagle from a greenside bunker at the par-five seventh, but back-to-back bogeys at the 12th and 13th proved costly as he came up short in his quest for his first tour win.
'I've just come off three missed cuts in a row to finish second, so I guess I'll take it,' Rose said. 'But at the same time, I really felt like today could have been my day.
'I was great mentally out there and the putts just didn't go in.
'Winning is all about making the putts at the right time and I had a hot putter this week and today I felt I was hitting decent putts, but I didn't quite have the confidence in the read.'
A nervous Goggin, in uncharted territory in search of his first tour win, quickly frittered away his lead with two bogeys in the first four holes, but played quite well after that.
'I learnt I have a little bit of character and was able to pull through after a shocking start and not completely throw the thing in the toilet,' he said after a birdie at the last earned him a tie for second.
'It just took me four holes to calm down, and that was the difference.
'I played well enough but the first four holes were just rubbish.'
But the day belonged to Perry, who expressed just a touch of regret that he will not be at next week's United States Open, having failed to enter Monday's 36-hole United States Open sectional qualifier.
'I'll probably regret I'm not there, the way I'm playing now,' he said.
'I don't have too many US Opens left in me, but I'm not going to 36-hole qualify.'
