DUBLIN, OHIO — Jim Furyk proved to be a worthy successor to Tiger Woods' three-year reign in the Memorial Tournament.
On a day of dramatic shots that began after Woods was gone, Furyk chipped in for birdie and holed a bunker shot for eagle during a back-nine charge that carried him to a 7-under 65 and a two-stroke victory Sunday.
It was the lowest final round by a winner in the 27-year history of the Memorial, and it capped an exciting afternoon at Muirfield Village in which 12 players were separated by two shots, all of them on the back nine.
Furyk removed the suspense in a matter of minutes.
From the right bunker at No. 15 with not much green between the sand and the flag, his bunker shot rattled the pin and fell for eagle. Then, he hit his tee shot on the par-3 16th to 10 feet for another birdie.
"I started looking up at the leaderboard and realized it was a close race," Furyk said. "I got from one down to three up. It was pretty exciting."
Furyk finished at 14-under 274 and earned $846,000 for his seventh career victory.
John Cook, who lived at Muirfield Village while playing at Ohio State, had a 69 and finished two strokes back, along with David Peoples (68).
David Duval, one of seven players who had at least a share of the lead at one point, went through a rally-killing stretch of three holes, but still closed with a 66 and tied for fourth, his first top-10 finish of the year.
Jack Nicklaus had three double bogeys in a round of 79, although his 295 was still two strokes better than Sergio Garcia.
"I just didn't have any zip," the tournament host said.
Bob Tway, the 54-hole leader by one stroke, bogeyed the first two holes and never recovered.
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