Golf:Justin Rose finally broke his American duck with arguably the finest round of his career at the Memorial Tournament at Muirhead Village, Ohio where Rory McIlroy finished tied for 10th.
Playing the 162nd event of his PGA Tour career, Rose came from four behind Rickie Fowler to triumph by three with a magnificent closing 66, the low round of the day, and an 18-under-par total of 270.
It makes the 29-year-old the third European to win in the States this season after his close friend and Ryder Cup partner Ian Poulter's success at the WGC-Accenture Match Play and then McIlroy's stunning Quail Hollow Championship victory.
Rose made his first birdie on the fifth and then had three in a row from the seventh to turn in 32.
He was still behind at that point, but 21-year-old Fowler, also chasing his maiden win, bogeyed the 10th and then went in the water on the short 12th for a double bogey five.
Rose took control with further birdies on the 14th and 16th, but Fowler put the pressure back on by picking up shots at the 14th and 15th.
However, the youngster left a bunker shot in the sand on the short 16th, dropped another shot and could find no way back with Rose rock solid.
The former European Tour number one's first PGA Tour event was, of course, the 1998 Open at Royal Birkdale when he finished a spectacular fourth as a 17-year-old amateur.
This could have the spin-off effect of qualifying him for St Andrews next month off a current form money list running in America.
But first comes the US Open and a 36-hole qualifier close to Muirfield Village today.
Rose, 66th in the world, will move just outside the top 30 and it lifts him from 27th to eighth on the European Ryder Cup world points list.
The first four places in Colin Montgomerie's side will come from that list, with the next five automatic spots decided by European Tour earnings.
Rose goes just ahead of Graeme McDowell, who earlier in the day captured the Wales Open at Celtic Manor.
"I couldn't wish for a better place - it's an honour," Rose told tournament host Jack Nicklaus after holing the winning putt.
"I have had a few close calls and sometimes you wonder why you can't get it done. But when you do it feels easy.
"It's nice to have the hard work pay off."
McIlroy droped a shot at the third but immediately bounced back with birdie at four and five. From there the 21-year-old reeled off nine straight pars to be 10 under with three holes to play but bogeyed the 17th. However a par on the last left him on 279 (nine under) after a 71.
Defending champion Tiger Woods shot a level par 72 to finish on six under, while Phil Mickelson shot 69 for an 11 under total of 277.
Collated final round scores and totals
(USA unless stated, par 72):
270Justin Rose (Eng) 65 69 70 66
273Rickie Fowler 65 66 69 73
276Ricky Barnes 70 71 62 73, Bo Van Pelt 70 69 68 69
277Phil Mickelson 67 71 70 69, Tim Petrovic 69 66 68 74, Ryan Moore 70 69 70 68
278Stewart Cink 70 67 71 70, Matt Kuchar 71 68 69 70
279 Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 72 68 68 71, Jim Furyk 68 67 72 72
280Brendon De Jonge 71 69 65 75, Vijay Singh (Fij) 71 72 66 71, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 67 73 70 70, Sean O'Hair 68 71 68 73, Jeff Overton 69 70 68 73
281Kenny Perry 71 68 68 74, Steve Stricker 69 70 71 71
282Tiger Woods 72 69 69 72, Steve Marino 68 71 71 72, Pat Perez 71 70 71 70, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 70 69 72
284Bryce Molder 74 71 71 68, D.A. Points 73 71 68 72, Chad Collins 73 72 68 71, Andres Romero (Arg) 67 75 70 72, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 70 74 67 73
285J.B. Holmes 68 74 71 72, Camilo Villegas (Col) 77 68 70 70, Ben Curtis 73 72 69 71, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 69 70 76 70, Alex Cejka (Ger) 71 67 74 73
286Dustin Johnson 72 69 73 72, Spencer Levin 68 68 71 79, Adam Scott (Aus) 70 70 75 71, John Senden (Aus) 73 72 73 68, Bubba Watson 69 73 74 70, Tom Pernice Jnr. 72 67 70 77, Kevin Streelman 70 73 74 69, Jason Day (Aus) 67 69 72 78
287Peter Hanson (Swe) 71 71 74 71, Nathan Green (Aus) 72 72 67 76, Bill Haas 73 70 71 73, Tom Gillis 71 72 71 73, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 65 77 69 76, Tom Lehman 70 73 70 74
288Jerry Kelly 72 70 72 74, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 71 71 71 75, Zach Johnson 73 68 73 74, Woody Austin 71 73 72 72, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 74 70 70 74
289Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 68 75 73 73, K J Choi (Kor) 69 74 71 75, Davis Love III 72 72 69 76
290Kevin Stadler 69 75 72 74, Tim Herron 71 73 74 72, Brett Quigley 70 70 75 75, J.P. Hayes 72 70 72 76, Kevin Sutherland 72 72 72 74
291Vaughn Taylor 75 69 71 76, Martin Laird (Sco) 72 71 73 75, D.J. Trahan 73 69 77 72, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 73 70 72 76
292John Merrick 73 72 73 74, Matthew Jones (Aus) 70 71 73 78
293Mark Calcavecchia 72 72 74 75
294Brian Davis (Eng) 71 73 73 77
295Charley Hoffman 72 71 72 80, Tim Clark (Rsa) 70 71 75 79
296Brett Wetterich 71 74 77 74
299Erik Compton 73 72 72 82