After 72 holes, the 34-year-old American tied for second place with Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa on 24 under par.

But he eventually got the better of them, making a birdie putt on the first play-off hole while Hadwin and Morikawa failed to match his three.

“It’s hard to put it all into words,” Fowler remarked after winning.

“With the way I’ve been playing, I knew it was only a matter of time.” I’ve had a couple of tough weekends where I had a chance but didn’t make it.”

Fowler won the Players Championship in 2017 but dropped to 185th in the world rankings the following year before resuming his form this season with nine top-20 performances in his previous ten events.

He was tied for first place going into the final round of the US Open in June.

Fowler led the final round in Detroit on 20 under par, looking for his first victory since the 2019 Phoenix Open.

Hadwin, 35, and Morikawa, 26, both pushed the 2018 Masters runner-up to the wire, with Morikawa firing an eight-under 64.

Morikawa started the day four strokes behind Fowler and three strokes behind Hadwin, but he birdied seven of his opening 14 holes to mount a challenge.

With Hadwin also in contention, Fowler needed a birdie at the 18th to qualify for the play-off.

He delivered, and Fowler recovered from an errant right-handed drive at the same hole where the playoff began. A terrific shot out of the rough was followed by a clean putt to secure victory with another birdie.

Aaron Rai, 28, of England, was in contention after three rounds, but with a 71 in the fourth, he finished joint-ninth on 18 under.