DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Billy Horschel clinched his Muirfield Village victory on the final day of the Alumni Tournament with a birdie through the fairway and onto the green on the 15th hole.

Horschel had a five-shot lead going into the final round in the sun, and no one grew closer than two shots. He finished on an even-par 72.

There are still a few jitters.

He ended his 49-hole streak of bogey-free holes on the sixth hole. And it was not until the 10th hole that he made his first birdie. On the par-3 12th, he had to fight for bogey, cutting his up in two around Aaron Wise. Horschel saved himself as he parred the 13th and 14th holes from 12 feet and 8 feet.

During the quiet, unbelieving celebration, a birdie on the par-5 15th hole had the proper line and velocity, bending left and landing inside the left edge of the cup as he extended out those arms.

Horschel spoke to event host Jack Nicklaus when they completed the tournament, "Just like you, big man."

 The triumph includes a three exemption as an elite event. Horschel said he discovered through Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus that he didn't be doing anything exceptional with a five-shot lead unless the situation demanded it. It was beckoning when Wise smashed a shot into 2 feet for par on the 15th hole.

"I was ready to do something unique if I had to," he stated. "That was a major undertaking."

He and Joaquin Niemann can put any meaningful pressure on Horschel. However, he missed a putt on the 13th hole, even as Horschel was starting to look shaky.

Wise finished alone in second place after a pointless par on the final hole. Statistics from the Monument Tournament's whole field

Cameron Smith, who led after 36 holes, was five strokes down at the start. On the front nine, he suffered a brace like double considered as a threat for a 42 and was never in contention. 

 His kids were there for the first time, jumping around on the tricky greens.

That could have been the most intense pressure Horschel has ever experienced.

Horschel has climbed to near the leading top ten in the world, his highest ranking ever, due to a year in which he has finally found little regularity in a hit-or-miss game. In the last 15 months, he's won three times, all against good fields, including the Dell Match Play and the BMW PGA Tournament at Wentworth the previous year, and now another.

It could be enough to earn a spot on a United States team for the Stanley Cup playoffs later this year.