Australia's Jason Day had to settle for a share of fourth place as England's Justin Rose stormed home to win the US PGA Tour's Zurich Classic.
The highest-ranked player in the field, world No.6 Day shared the lead with Rose entering the final round after completing most of his third round earlier on Sunday.
However he could not keep pace on the saturated TPC Louisiana course as Rose finished birdie-birdie to card a six-under 66 and win by one stroke from American Cameron Tringale (65) with a tournament-record 22-under par 266 total.
Boo Weekley also closed with a 65 to grab third place on 268.
Preparing to defend his World Golf Championships-Match Play title this week, Day shot a closing 69 to a further shot back in a tie with American Jim Herman (65).
Allowed to lift, clean and place their golf in the fairways and with no roll of any significance to be found, players swung aggressively and aimed approach shots pin-high.
Earlier Day had five birdies and one bogey in his third-round 68, while Rose had climbed up the leaderboard with a bogey-free 65.
But Day's final round started poorly and never really got going.
He hooked his opening drive into trees lining the left boundary of the second fairway. On the next swing, his ball smacked a tree and bounced right back to him and he took a bogey on the par-5 hole which he'd birdied twice previously.
He said hot, steamy conditions wore him down over the course of 32 holes in one day.
"The early days and the hot days, and just the long days in general kind of finally caught up to me," Day said. "I played great all week, but this final round just had a lot of mental errors."
Rose's victory - his seventh US tour title - represents a satisfying follow-up to the Englishman's share of second behind Jordan Spieth at the recent Masters.
He has won at least one US PGA Tour title in six straight seasons.
That streak is second only to Dustin Johnson's eight straight seasons with a title among current players.
Tringale could have forced a playoff with an eagle at the final hole, but settled for a birdie that gave him sole possession of second place.
Rain and thunderstorms had halted play every day, including a five-hour, 43-minute interruption on Saturday.
Share

