Viktor Hovland emerges victorious at The Memorial tournament in a playoff with Denny McCarthy

Viktor Hovland kept his Norwegian composure as he took victory at the Memorial in a one-hole playoff duel against Denny McCarthy.

Hovland rode the toughest stretch at Muirfield Village, delivering three clutch putts at the end to win the Memorial.

The 25-year-old finished with a two under 70 on another brutal test on a course baked by the sun all week, forcing the play-off with a 9-yard birdie on the 17th – the only one on that hole on the last round – and save par from behind the 18th green.

McCarthy held a one-off lead heading into 18th at Jack Nicklaus’s Muirfield Village Golf Club with Hovland in the clubhouse at seven under.

But the American was waywardly left off the tee and found himself in a hard lie that left him with no choice but to just continue beyond the fairway, leaving him well behind the green in two.

Hovland handled the toughest stretch at Muirfield Village, delivering three clutch putts

McCarthy held a one-off lead heading into 18th but stayed off the tee forcing a playoff

He found the green safely with his third, but his 20-foot putt for par fell out agonizingly, forcing him and Hovland back to 18 with the title to play for.

Back to 18th and the playoffs, McCarthy went the other way from the tee and had his ball buried in the rough over a fairway bunker.

His shot from the right side rolled back off the green about 50 yards away. He threw to 12 feet and the putt caught the left rim and spun off.

Meanwhile, safely off the tee, Hovland barely got to the front of the green, some 60 yards from the back pin, and two-putted by holing a 7-foot par putt for the win.

It was his fourth PGA Tour win and first on American soil, this time with a $3.6 million check and a handshake from host Jack Nicklaus. The Norwegian’s previous victories were twice in Mexico and Puerto Rico.

“It’s kind of surreal right now,” Hovland said on the CBS broadcast. “Playing Jack’s job and playing his tournament and winning it, and for him to see, he just shook my hand and gave me a few words of encouragement. That’s pretty cool.’

Meanwhile, unlucky McCarthy said he was “heartbroken,” with emotion in his voice following his closest call-up to win on the PGA Tour in his 156th attempt.

This was a final day of so many going backwards from the 22 players separated by three shots at the start of the round.

Hovland was safe off the tee, but barely got on the front of the green with his second

The Norwegian admitted it was ‘surreal’ to win on Jack Nicklaus’ legendary course

On his last hole, McCarthy had no choice but to just go beyond the fairway

Rory McIlroy chipped from under the fourth green for a birdie and led the front nine, but he gave way too many shots off the back – three bogeys in a row – for a 75 that put him out of the picture.

Scottie Scheffler closed with a 67 to finish third, missing the playoff by one shot, remarkable considering he made the cut on the number. The number 1 player in the world has finished no worse than 12th in his 13 starts this year.

But what a week to forget with the putter.

Scheffler converted a statistically dominant performance from tee-to-green, with 20.7 strokes on the field in that category. But he lost 8.5 strokes on the field during his putting. This might be the best context – it was almost a 20 shot difference in putting to McCarthy, and Scheffler ended up trailing.

“I think a little bit of my putting struggles probably helped me take my ball stroke to the next level, just because when I try to compete here…with the putts not going in I really have to hit Good. And I was able to do that,” Scheffler said.

“People might ask me if I putt that much more because I hit it so well,” he said. “When you hit a lot of greens, it’s not easy to make every putt. I mean, if I had put in the best this week, I would have won by an insane number of shots.’

That was from Hovland, who joined McCarthy (70) at 7-under 281.

Rory McIlroy led the front nine but gave way too many shots off the back

Scottie Scheffler finished with a 67 to finish third, missing the playoff by one shot

Hovland, who moves to No. 5 in the world rankings, didn’t feel he was doing anything special. He’s had better weeks hitting the ball. His lowest round all week was 69. But he was the only player to break par in all four rounds.

“I played smart. I’ve played my game. And I came up this time,” Hovland said.

He was especially strong in the end. The final three were the toughest in Muirfield Village all week. Hovland made two of three birdies on Saturday to get into the mix, and played 1 under against them on Sunday to get into a playoff.

Si Woo Kim, who played in the final group with McIlroy, had a 73 to finish fourth. Jordan Spieth was in the group one shot back.