A distinct anti-climactic atmosphere spread over the suddenly cold links as the cheers and roars that had accompanied Watson around the course gave way to polite applause for Cink on the biggest day of his career.

He is no stranger to not being the crowd favourite.

“I’m engulfed by the joy, for sure, but I can understand the mystique that came really close to developing here and the story,” he said.

“I don’t feel ashamed. I don’t feel disappointed. I’m pleased as punch that I’ve won this tournament, and also proud of the way Tom Watson played because he showed what a great game we all play.

“It’s not the first time I’ve been in that situation. I’ve played plenty of times with Tiger and hearing the Tiger roars and Mickelson.

“I’m usually the guy that the crowd appreciate but they’re not behind me 100 percent of the way.

“So that’s the sort of role I’ve been cast into for my whole career. And, hey, that’s not the worst. It’s okay.”

A solid, but unspectacular player, he has been a regular contender over the last 14 years since he turned professional but rarely a winner, the last of his five titles coming at last year’s Travelers Championship.

A good team player from his college days at Georgia Tech, Cink has also grown into a key member of the US Ryder Cup team, but he was beginning to doubt his own abilities to win at the very highest level.

He did come close before in a major, taking a double-bogey in the final hole of the 2001 US Open at Southern Hills, Oklahoma to blow his chances of getting into a playoff which Retief Goosen eventually won.

“I’m not sure I really thought much about whether I was good enough to win a major or not,” he said.

“I knew I’d been close a few times, but I never really heard my name tossed in there with the group of best ones not to have won.

“So maybe I was starting to believe that, but for some reason I just believed all week that I had something good.

“I just felt so calm. I never even felt nervous at all in a situation that in the past I would be extremely nervous.

“I felt like I was just totally at peace about whatever happened because I was proud of how I played up to today.”

What did the trick, he said, was changes he made to his putting stroke after firing a third round 77 at the Players Championship earlier this year.

Notably he switched back to a normal putter from a long one and mastered an effective pre-shot routine that on Sunday proved to be key to his success.

Cink played a superb play-off, claiming birdies on two of the four holes but it was the 15-foot putt he holed on the 72nd hole that he identified as the most important shot of the week.

“It will be the most crucial putt ever struck in my life,” he said. “I hope there will be some more. It was just the sweetest moment.”

It was the 67th career PGA title for Woods, who finished 72 holes on 12-under par 276, one stroke ahead of fellow American Jim Furyk and four better than the US third-place duo of Mark Wilson and Jonathan Byrd.

Woods fired seven birdies, two bogeys and an eagle for the second victory of his comeback from knee surgery.

“It was just about being patient with it,” Woods said. “It was a matter of time because I was able to start practicing after rounds again.”

A stunning birdie-birdie finish by the world number one served notice that Woods is back on form after making his return from an eight-month layoff and ready to defend the US Open crown he won limping through a playoff last year.

“I knew it was coming around. I haven’t been as consistent as I wanted to be. That cost me tournaments. I was just glad to clean that up.”

Woods won his first victory of the season at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March.

“Some expectations had to be lowered when I first came back,” Woods said. “It was nice to get a win so early but it is nicer to get one now that I can hit more shots.”

Woods, a 14-time major champion, had prior titles in 1999, 2000 and 2001 at the Memorial, which is hosted by Jack Nicklaus, the boyhood idol of Woods who owns the all-time major title record of 18 that is Woods’ ultimate target.

Woods reached all 14 fairways off the tee, completing one of the strongest driving performances of his career. He missed only three in the first two days and his 18 fairways hit in a row is his longest such streak since 2003.

“The driving was nice this week,” he said. “It was nice to put it together.”

Starting the round four strokes off the pace, Woods birdied four of the first seven holes, including the second and par-3 fourth plus the par-5 fifth and seventh, before suffering a bogey at the par-3 eighth.

An amazing chip-in brought an eagle for the second day in a row at the par-5 11th put Woods among a pack of leaders and while his birdie at 15 was followed with a bogey at 16, his stellar finish won the day.

After rolling home a testy birdie putt at 17, Woods dropped his approach at the 18th hole just inches from the cup and tapped in for a birdie to conclude a stunning comeback triumph.

Furyk birdied the 18th to finish one back but Wilson and Byrd were the only other rivals within six shots.

Americans Davis Love, Matt Kuchar and Matt Bettencourt shared fifth on 282, one stroke ahead of countryman Stewart Cink and South Africa’s Ernie Els.

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