American veteran Scott Hoch shot a final-round eight-under-par 64 to overhaul Davis Love III and land the Western Open in Illinois.

The 45-year-old fired in eight birdies in the first 17 holes to join Love on 21 under going into the par-four 18th.

Both golfers found sand with their second shots but Hoch held his nerve to get up and down in two while Love could only manage a bogey-five.

It was a 10th PGA Tour title for Hoch and his second of the year following his success in April's Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic.

Having also finished second in last week's Buick Classic, Hoch has all but secured his place in this year's Ryder Cup.

Love had begun the final day with a one-stroke advantage at the head of the leaderboard but had to settle for second after a closing 66.

Mike Weir and Brandel Chamblee tied for third on 13 under after rounds of 67 and 69 respectively.

Rory Sabbatini and Jerry Kelly both carded 67s to share fifth on 12 under.

Tiger Woods continued his mini-slump after a final-round 71 saw him slip to joint-20th on eight under.

The world number one had finished only 12th in the US Open and 16th in the Buick Classic prior to this tournament.

After the final round, Woods said he thought he discovered a flaw in his game

"I was good yesterday on the range. It stayed there," he said.

"For some reason, I just didn't carry it over to today. The good thing is I putted great today. It is just one or the other."

Meanwhile, a victorious Hoch enthused: "Even since Greensboro, I have really played well and played with confidence, which a win will do for you, especially when you hadn't won in a while.

"Even before that, I was playing well, but I really didn't have the confidence and I wasn't finishing very well."

Battling a shoulder injury, Love settled for his third top-three finish of the year despite a final-round 66. "Obviously not what I wanted," he said.

"I probably would have taken 66 when we started, but once we got into the round you could tell that Scott was putting very well.

"He was playing with a lot of confidence and I was going to have to play great to beat him. I just didn't play great."

Like Love, Hoch is coming back from an injury. He sprained his ankle in January while playing basketball with former NBA player Dennis Scott.

"We were playing full-court. Our guy was doing conditioning drills for both of us and so I figured after I got the rebound I was going to outrun him," Hoch explained.

"When I planted for the lay up, my shoe stuck but my ankle didn't. It's still swollen. No more basketball for me."

Collated final scores from the Western Open in Illinois USA (US unless stated, par 72):

267 S Hoch 69 68 66 64

268 D Love III 66 67 69 66

275 B Chamblee 69 67 70 69, M Weir 71 70 67 67

276 J Kelly 67 73 69 67, R Sabbatini (Rsa) 71 68 70 67

277 D Hart 70 70 69 68, Kevin Sutherland 70 70 69 68, S Flesch 71 70 67 69

278 F Lickliter 70 71 70 67, V Singh (Fij) 69 70 70 69, S Stricker 72 70 68 68, M Wiebe 65 74 67 72, M Gogel 69 74 66 69

279 B Estes 70 68 71 70, B Mayfair 72 70 67 70, C Paulson 68 71 72 68, S Verplank 69 69 70 71, B Gay 74 68 67 70

280 S Ames (Can) 72 69 68 71, B Faxon 68 70 72 70, D Frost (Rsa) 72 71 70 67, J Leonard 69 72 70 69, F Nobilo (Nzl) 68 69 72 71, K Perry 68 74 70 68, C Smith 71 68 71 70, B Tway 68 74 67 71, T Woods 73 68 68 71, C Beckman 71 72 66 71, J Ogilvie 71 67 73 69

281 J Cook 69 72 72 68, J Kaye 69 71 75 66, T Lehman 74 68 70 69, B May 72 70 74 65, S McCarron 69 73 72 67, H Sutton 70 71 70 70

282 R Damron 70 72 68 72, J Gullion 72 69 71 70, J Sindelar 72 69 70 71, B Baird 70 71 70 71, C Howell 72 69 73 68

283 B Burns 71 68 72 72, S Micheel 70 72 67 74, P Mickelson 66 74 67 76, L Mize 70 73 69 71, D Toms 67 73 73 70, G Chalmers 69 74 72 68, B Jobe 70 70 72 71, I Leggatt 69 73 70 71

284 N Price (Zim) 72 71 68 73, G Hnatiuk (Can) 71 69 73 71

285 T Herron 70 73 72 70, S Kendall 71 72 72 70, L Roberts 70 69 73 73, JJ Henry 74 69 71 71, M Wilson 71 67 73 74

286 R Cochran 72 69 73 72, B Geiberger 69 73 70 74, JL Lewis 69 71 74 72

287 R Freeman 74 69 69 75, R Beem 70 73 75 69, Kyoung-Ju Choi (Kor) 71 71 76 69

288 J Carter 71 72 74 71, J Maggert 70 71 70 77, C Perry 74 68 74 72, K Johnson 70 73 76 69

289 T Tryba 71 72 74 72

290 C Kanada 74 69 73 74, G Nicklaus 71 72 74 73, S Maruyama (Jpn) 72 71 76 75, J Van de Velde (Fra) 73 70 76 75