Dublin, Ohio ? William McGirt thought he hit it big when he won the Cabarrus Classic and pocketed $16,000, the second-largest prize on the Tar Heel Tour.

That was in 2007, and it felt like a lifetime ago compared with the perks from winning the Memorial on Sunday.

The victory was worth $1.53 million and a three-year exemption for a guy who once dreamed of simply having a PGA Tour card.

Waiting to congratulate him was tournament host Jack Nicklaus, who raved about the bunker shot on the 18th hole that kept McGirt in the playoff at Muirfield Village, and the flop shot from behind the 18th green that led to a 6-foot putt and his first PGA Tour victory in his 165th try.

U.S. Open qualifying? Take the day off.

McGirt moves up to No. 43 in the world and was assured a spot in his first national championship.

“It will all sink in at some point,” McGirt said.

This was a long time coming.

Gary Woodland reacts to his shot out of a bunker on the ninth hole during the final round of the Memorial golf tournament, Sunday, June 5, 2016, in Dublin, Ohio. Woodland, a former Kansas University golfer, bogeyed the hole and settled for a tie for fourth place.

McGirt couldn’t count all the mini-tours he played and the self-doubts he ignored, including a four-month stretch in which he only saw his wife for four days. But on Sunday against the strongest field of the year for a regular PGA Tour event, McGirt made his first victory one to remember.

He played the final 22 holes at Muirfield Village without a bogey. His final par in regulation was the most important, a two-putt from 65 feet for a 1-under 71 that allowed him to join Jon Curran (70) in a playoff at 15-under 273.

McGirt won the way Nicklaus said he captured so many of his 73 times on the PGA Tour.

“I won half of my golf tournaments watching everyone else self-destruct,” Nicklaus said. “And that’s the way you win. I saw him coming down the stretch. I saw Jon coming down the stretch. The two of them played great. I felt that either one of them could have won.”

Dustin Johnson dropped three shots in four holes to start the back nine, and a fourth bogey on the 16th ended it for him. Matt Kuchar was tied for the lead when he returned from a 90-minute rain delay and promptly hit the lip of a fairway bunker and made double bogey. He never recovered. Emiliano Grillo had a share of the lead until starting the back nine with four straight bogeys. Gary Woodland couldn’t get up-and-down behind the 17th green and made bogey.

Woodland, a former Kansas University golfer, shot a final-round 73 and fell into a tie for fourth.

He had two birdies and a bogey to make the turn at 1-under, but the bogey on No. 9 was the first of three straight that took him out of contention.

Woodland earned $334,688.