Troy Merritt claimed his first PGA Tour title victory at the Quicken Loans International in Virginia after finishing three strokes ahead of the field.

Merritt, who took a share of the lead on Saturday with a tournament-record 61, shot a four-under 67 on Sunday to finish on 18 under overall and that was enough to give him clear daylight over the rest.

The 29-year-old had only ever previously won the Mexico Open in 2009, but the Gainesville title doubles that total and also earned him a winner’s cheque of $1.2million.

Fellow American Rickie Fowler was the nearest to Merritt, but his seven-birdie round of 69 was blighted by four bogeys, which meant he was always unlikely to catch his compatriot.

Kevin Chappell dropped like a stone after shooting a six-over 77 on the final day to sink from having a share of the lead to dropping 10 shots behind.

Tiger Woods, who fell out of contention with a three over 74 on Saturday, recovered somewhat to join Chappell on eight under and he feels his weekend's work is a step in the right direction.

“It was kind of a mixed bag as far as results, but the fact I had total control of the golf ball was nice,” he told the PGA Tour.

“I’m hitting the ball up there with some of the bigger guys again. I was able to make some putts and the short game (is) becoming good again like it used to be.”

World number seven Justin Rose leads the English contingent after shooting a one-under 70 to join a four-strong cluster on 12 under, while Scotland's Russell Knox finished on five under.