Jeff Maggert was delighted to end a seven-year victory drought on the PGA Tour after winning the St Jude Classic at the TPC Southwind in Memphis.

Maggert fired a five-under-par 65 to erase a three-stroke deficit and claimed his third career title after finishing on nine-under at 271.

The 42-year-old finished three shots clear of faltering third-round co-leader Tom Pernice Jr to join Kirk Triplett and Stephen Ames as the third winner over 40 on the Tour this season.

"I can't believe it's been seven years but it's been seven good years for me," Maggert said. "I played a lot of good golf in that span. I haven't won, but this is just a good win for me."

Maggert eagled from 36 feet at the par-five 16th and followed with a birdie from 33 feet at the 17th to clinch his first triumph since the 1999 Match Play Championship.

"I just felt like I needed a couple birdies at the end, maybe to pull away and the eagle putt dropped on the 16th and obviously I felt good and the birdie there to put pressure on Tom."

Only 15 players finished under par and many in contention were unable to mount any kind of a charge on the 7,244-yard, par-70 course.

Pernice and Tim Herron began the final round with a share of the lead but stumbled badly.

Pernice managed a one-over 71 while Herron, who ended his own seven-year skid last week at Colonial, slumped to a 77 and finished tied for 16th at level-par on 280.

"It was a disappointment, obviously, I didn't make any putts," Pernice said. "You make one birdie on the final round, you're not going to win out here."

John Cook (71) and Kris Cox (72) finished tied for third at four-under on 276, while Jay Delsing - who was one-under at the turn but finished with a 72 - was tied for fifth on 277.

Defending champion Justin Leonard stumbled to a bogey/double-bogey finish en route to a 73 and a tie for 22nd at one-over on 281.

Collated final-round scores and totals (USA unless stated, par 70):

271 Jeff Maggert 72 66 68 65

274 Tom Pernice Jnr. 67 68 68 71

276 John Cook 69 69 67 71, Kris Cox 74 67 63 72

277 Jay Delsing 70 69 66 72, Zach Johnson 68 71 70 68, Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn) 68 73 69 67, Briny Baird 71 68 68 70

278 John Senden (Aus) 73 65 70 70

279 Dudley Hart 74 67 70 68, Tjaart Van der Walt (Rsa) 73 70 67 69, Brett Quigley 69 71 71 68, Ryan Palmer 69 68 69 73, David Toms 69 67 72 71, Brent Geiberger 69 73 70 67

280 Tim Herron 70 65 68 77, Paul Azinger 67 72 72 69, Brian Gay 69 67 72 72, Camilo Villegas (Col) 70 66 71 73, Nick Price (Zim) 68 70 69 73, Fred Funk 68 75 68 69

281 Justin Leonard 72 69 67 73, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 72 69 69 71, Chris DiMarco 73 70 68 70, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 71 71 68 71, Darron Stiles 69 64 77 71, Bob May 69 71 74 67

282 Steve Stricker 68 72 70 72, Bob Estes 71 70 69 72, Duffy Waldorf 70 71 69 72, Gabriel Hjertstedt (Swe) 73 71 70 68, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 71 72 67 72, Bob Burns 72 69 70 71

283 Bart Bryant 71 70 71 71, Steve Flesch 74 69 73 67, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 74 70 69 70, Doug Barron 72 70 71 70

284 Paul Stankowski 68 76 69 71, Jeff Overton 73 68 72 71, Matt Kuchar 72 68 70 74, Greg Kraft 75 69 72 68, D.A. Points 66 77 73 68, Michael Allen 70 69 70 75, Jim McGovern 73 70 70 71, Scott Sterling 74 65 71 74, Ryan Hietala 73 71 70 70

285 Robert Garrigus 69 68 76 72, David Peoples 73 68 70 74, Chris Smith 64 71 75 75, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 70 72 75 68

286 Will Moore 73 71 71 71, Matt Hansen 74 69 70 73, Dan Forsman 69 68 72 77, Jose Coceres (Arg) 73 68 72 73, Woody Austin 69 74 70 73, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 72 68 74 72, Tommy Armour III 72 71 71 72

287 Patrick Sheehan 72 68 75 72, Mark Calcavecchia 68 71 75 73

289 Willie Wood 73 71 73 72, Kirk Triplett 70 72 68 79

290 Mike Sposa 74 68 74 74, Vance Veazey 73 69 74 74, Scott Gump 71 73 71 75

291 Casey Wittenberg 74 65 76 76, Brian Bateman 70 72 73 76

292 Andrew Magee 70 73 71 78

293 Henrik Bjornstad (Nor) 74 70 76 73, Danny Ellis 72 71 75 75

294 Mark Wilson 71 72 69 82, Nicholas Thompson 70 72 77 75

296 Paul Goydos 71 70 75 80

297 Frank Lickliter II 69 72 81 75

299 Tag Ridings 76 68 83 72