Going into Sunday’s final round, Justin Rose knew he was in good position in the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Couse despite being down four strokes and not in the final pairing.

Rose carried that confidence onto the course on Sunday and fired the day’s lowest round with a 6-under 66 and defeated Rickie Fowler by three strokes.

Rose had never won on the PGA Tour; now he carries the trophy of one of the tour’s top non-majors. He had a calmness and patience that carried from the beginning of the tournament on Thursday through the end of Sunday’s action

There will be no rest for Rose following this win. He has to play at 8:10 a.m. on Monday at Brookside Golf and Country Club for the U.S. Open Qualifier.

Getting no rest is perfectly normal for the 29-year-old who has a 16-month-old baby named Leo who tends to keep him up at night.

Despite never winning a PGA Tour tournament, Rose came in as the golfer in the top five who had the experience at Muirfield.

This was Rose’s sixth visit to Muirfield. He has had two top-five finishes at the Memorial.

Fowler and final group member Ricky Barnes had never participated in the Memorial.

The course also played much differently than the previous three rounds. The main difference was the wind which kept scores higher.

Rose did well from the start as he birdied Nos. 5 and 7-9, and made a distance putt on No. 10 to save par.

Rose was tied with Fowler at 16-under going into No. 12. Rose got a three on the par-3 No. 12 and left the green with a sense of relief. For Fowler, he was not as lucky as his tee-shot fell in the water that goes around the green’s right side. Fowler double-bogeyed the hole and was now trailing down two strokes.

While Fowler was taking his drop, Rose was walking down the fairway on No. 13 and saw Fowler on No. 12 was struggling.

Rose had a bit of a challenge himself. He had a difficult bunker shot ahead of him on No. 13. Rose hit one of the best shots of the tournament as his sand shot came within a foot of the hole and he saved par.

“I knew that the 12 tee shot -- thanks, Jack (Nicklaus) -- is the scariest,” Rose said. “It's similar to 12 at Augusta, no doubt about it… So that was the shot for me that I felt, once I got through that shot, I felt pretty good. I felt comfortable on the rest of the golf course that I could get it round, get me to make some pars if that's all I needed to do. But to get through that hole was huge for me. I did notice I saw Rickie down in the drop area when I was walking up 13. Then I birdied 14. Kind of figured that that got me a little bit of a gap, little bit of a lead.”

As Rose’s caddy had an ear-to-ear smile on the tee of No. 14, Rose had a strong, confident appearance as he approached the tee. Rose birdied the hole and cruised en route to the victory.

Nicklaus had once told Rose that he would win the Memorial.

“Justin shot a low round. If you look at what Rickie did, that was a great round of golf,” Nicklaus said. “Justin just played that much better. He played a lower round of golf, which I thought was superb. I think it was a great round of golf. I don't think Fowler has anything to be ashamed of. I think he played very well today.”

Rose now will face another tough challenge as he will need to play 36 holes, his first 18 will be at the Lakes Golf and Country Club followed by 18 holes at Brookside Golf and Country Club at 2:10 p.m.

“But, you know, I've got to truly believe that the U.S. Open is -- obviously, it's such an important tournament that tomorrow is an extension of the U.S. Open,” he said. “I think it deserves, obviously, the full respect that I'm going to give it. You know, I might have one set of drinks tonight, but I'll be waking up tomorrow clear headed, ready to go, and should I get through, I'll go into the U.S. Open, obviously, with a lot of confidence and just try to keep my momentum rolling.”

If Rose can survive a week of long rain delays and tough course conditions, he can surely carry the momentum he has into the U.S. Open Qualifier.

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