DUBLIN, Ohio — Patrick Cantlay began the week of the Memorial Tournament feeling like Muirfield Village Golf Club was becoming his friend. The 27-year-old Californian was finally connecting with the golf course, getting to know what makes it tick after playing it for the first time two years ago.

By the time Sunday night rolled around, Cantlay and MVGC had become BFFs, joined at the hip —and in history.

Cantlay relied on his increasing familiarity with the golf course to shoot an 8-under-par 64 —the lowest final round by a winner in 44 years of the tournament —to overcome a four-shot deficit and win the Memorial by two strokes over Adam Scott.

“I can’t tell you how big a difference it is coming to this place for a third time, than coming to a place the first or even the second time,” said Cantlay, who began the final round four shots behind Martin Kaymer and two back of Scott before putting together an eight-birdie, bogey-free round that put him at 19-under for the tournament, one shot short of Tom Lehman’s record.

“There’s certain golf courses that I really like, and having been there now a couple of times, they just seem a lot easier because I know where to hit it,” he continued.

Or where not to hit it, which is a lesson Kaymer did not learn. The German, seeking his first PGA Tour victory since winning the U.S. Open in 2014, made two crucial strategy mistakes —pulling his second shot at No. 9 into deep rough that led to a bogey, and hitting into water at No. 15, which prevented him from making a needed birdie —that helped Cantlay to overtake him.

“When you haven’t won for a while, you have a tendency to want to press, press, press,” tournament host Jack Nicklaus said, adding that Kaymer “will look back on his mistakes and say, ‘I really didn’t need to do that.’ “

Kaymer said his goal was to finish 18 or 19 under (he finished minus-15, which is where he began the round), which he figured would be good enough to win.

“I didn’t really see someone shooting 7 or 8 under from (Cantlay’s group),” he said. “But all credit to him. He deserved to win.”

Scott kept things interesting to the end, pulling to within two shots of Cantlay after consecutive birdies at holes 13, 14, 15 and 16. The Australian still had a shot heading to No. 18, where up ahead Cantlay faced an 8-foot putt for par. Could a two-shot swing be in the offing?

No way. Cantlay drained the putt and flashed his first smile of the round. Maybe of the tournament.

“I knew I had a little bit of a mountain to climb to start the day,” he said.

Birdies at No. 2, No. 5 and three straight (7-9) changed all that.

“This validates that I can compete against the best players in the world,” Cantlay said, adding that it felt especially gratifying to win on a course that resembles a major championship setup, with thick, deep rough and sloping greens.

With his second PGA Tour victory —he won in Las Vegas in 2017 —Cantlay earned $1.638 million and the traditional handshake from Nicklaus next to the 18th green.

It is hard to say Cantlay absolutely saw this coming, but he felt he was due.

“I definitely feel like I’ve had a lot of close calls since my last win,” said Cantlay, who was ranked 15th in the world last week and finished tied for third at the PGA Championship two weeks ago. “I’m a little surprised it’s taken me this long.”

It might have taken longer if not for a 90-minute sit-down discussion with Nicklaus that took place in 2017.

“We went through every hole and kind of what he was thinking designwise and what shots he thought were the correct shots to play and how to dissect every hole,” Cantlay said, adding that the inside information gave him a little edge.

He took advantage on Sunday, with a little help from his new BFF.