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Rose completed his six-under effort at Muirfield Village without a bogey for an 18-under total of 270 and a three-shot victory over Rickie Fowler.
"I've had a few close calls over time, and you start to
sometimes wonder why you can't get it done," Rose said said of his
inability to claim a title in the United States, to go with half a
dozen victories worldwide.
He missed just one fairway in a round that also saw him one-putt
eight straight holes.
After he tapped in for par at the last he raised his fist in the
air. Then he had a hug for his young son Leo, who clapped has his
father lifted him up.
Rose was making his 162nd start in a PGA Tour event, dating to a
breakout performance as a 17-year-old amateur at the 1998 British
Open, where he tied for fourth.
His last-round charge marked the second year in a row that the
Memorial winner came from four shots off the lead. Tiger Woods did
the same last year.
Fowler, the 21-year-old rookie who held a three-shot overnight
lead over Ricky Barnes and Tim Petrovic, fell off the top of the
leaderboard with a double bogey at the 12th, where he hit into the
water.
He carded a one-over 73 to claim second on 273 - three shots in
front of Bo Van Pelt and Barnes.
It was Fowler's second runner-up finish of the season.
"Your time is coming," Rose told Fowler as the young American
came over to congratulate him.
Rose reeled off three birdie in a row from the seventh and
draine a 20-foot par-saving putt at 10.
He added birdies at 14 and 16 as Fowler struggled on the back
nine.
Fowler drove into the bunker en route to a bogey at 10.
He
couldn't gain any ground at the par-five 11th, and at the par-three
12th his tee shot found the water and he ended up dropping two
shots.
Barnes had two double bogeys but also holed out from the fairway
for an eagle as he shot a 73.
Van Pelt missed a short par putt at
18 to close his 69.
Rose was facing a birdie putt at 16 when he heard the cheer when
Barnes holed out for eagle on the 15th
He heard fans chant "Ricky" but he didn't know if it was Barnes
or Fowler.
"I knew I had a 50-50 chance," said Rose, who went ahead and
made his putt.
Woods, playing just his fourth tournament of the year and his
first since a neck injury forced him out of the final round of the
Players Championship three weeks ago, carded a fourth-round
even-par 72.
His tie for 19th on six-under 282 was his lowest finish since
2002 in the tournament he has won four times.
Masters champion Phil Mickelson, who again could have overtaken
Woods atop the world rankings with a victory this week, closed with
a 69 to share fifth place on 277 with Ryan Moore (68) and Petrovic
(74).
It was the third tournament in a month that Mickelson had a chance to seize the number one ranking for the first time in his career.
FINAL SCORES
270 Justin Rose (Britain) 65 69 70 66
273 Rickie Fowler (US) 65 66 69 73
276 Bo Van Pelt (US) 70 69 68 69
Ricky Barnes (US) 70 71 62 73
277 Ryan Moore (US) 70 69 70 68
Phil Mickelson (US) 67 71 70 69
Tim Petrovic (US) 69 66 68 74
278 Matt Kuchar (US) 71 68 69 70
Stewart Cink (US) 70 67 71 70
279 Jim Furyk (US) 68 67 72 72
Rory McIlroy (Britain) 72 68 68 71
280 Rory Sabbatini (South Africa) 67 73 70 70
Vijay Singh (Fiji) 71 72 66 71
Jeff Overton (US) 69 70 68 73
Brendon De Jonge (Zimbabwe) 71 69 65 75
Sean O'Hair (US) 68 71 68 73
281 Steve Stricker (US) 69 70 71 71
Kenny Perry (US) 71 68 68 74
282 Pat Perez (US) 71 70 71 70
Steve Marino (US) 68 71 71 72
Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 71 70 69 72
Tiger Woods (US) 72 69 69 72
284 Chad Collins (US) 73 72 68 71
Andres Romero (Argentina) 67 75 70 72
D.A. Points (US) 73 71 68 72
Yang Yong-Eun (South Korea) 70 74 67 73
Bryce Molder (US) 74 71 71 68
285 Alex Cejka (Germany) 71 67 74 73
J.B. Holmes (US) 68 74 71 72
Ben Curtis (US) 73 72 69 71
Carl Pettersson (Sweden) 69 70 76 70
Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 77 68 70 70
295 Tim Clark (South Africa) 70 71 75 79
