K.J. Choi ran off four straight birdies on the front nine to take the lead, then finished with three clutch par saves from the bunkers and gallery to beat Ryan Moore by one stroke on Sunday and win the Memorial.
Choi closed with a 7-under 65 and was rewarded with a handshake from tournament host Jack Nicklaus, whose books the South Korean studied to learn about golf.
Rain that pounded Muirfield Village in the morning set up a shootout among a half-dozen players, all of them with a good chance to win until they either ran out of time, ran out of birdies or took themselves out of the tournament with untimely blunders.
PHOTO: AFP
Choi avoided the mishaps. After a two-putt birdie on the 15th to reach 17 under, he saved par from the bunker on the 16th with a 2.1m putt, chipped out of the gallery to 5m and made that for par on the 17th, then blasted out of the sand on the final hole to 1.6m and made that one.
Nicklaus, the tournament founder, stood behind the 18th green and waited with open arms when Choi finished his round at 17-under 271.
Moore ran off five straight birdies until he had to settle for par on the 18th for a 66.
Rod Pampling, who had a three-shot lead to start the final round, gave himself a chance with a 10m eagle putt on the 15th hole to get within one shot of Choi.
But on the 17th, Pampling went long and into the gallery, stubbed a chip and was lucky to escape with bogey.
He closed with a 72 and tied for third with Kenny Perry, who shot 63 despite finishing with three straight pars.
Adam Scott also left Muirfield Village with a bitter taste.
Despite a bogey on the par-5 11th that stalled his momentum, he birdied the 15th and 16th to get within one shot, but three-putted from the fringe on the 17th, badly missing a 2m putt for par.
That meant Scott and Pampling had to hole out from the 18th fairway to force a playoff and neither had a chance.
Choi watched with Nicklaus from behind the green and hardly looked worried.
It was the fifth victory of his US tour career and he earned US$1.08 million.
Scott closed with consecutive bogeys for a 70, putting him at 14-under 274 with Sean O'Hair (70), Stewart Cink (69) and Fredrik Jacobson (68).
Tiger Woods made progress in his final tournament before the US Open. He finally holed his share of putts and closed with a 67 to tie for 15th, then headed for Oakmont for one final practice round.
"It was progressing all week, which was nice," Woods said.
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