Jason Dufner Tops Jim Furyk, Henrik Stenson to Win 2013 PGA Championship

Jason Dufner broke away from the field on the final day of the PGA Championship to win the event by two strokes.

The American carded a 68 in the fourth round, which gave him a total score of 10 strokes under par for the tournament. 

Fellow American Jim Furyk entered the day with a one-stroke lead, but he struggled to get birdies in the round and was quickly passed. He finished with two bogeys and ended up in second place.

Swedish golfers Henrik Stenson and Jonas Blixt capped off impressive weeks, finishing in third and fourth place respectively. Here is a look at the top of the final scoreboard.   

Defending champion Rory McIlroy finished the tournament three strokes under par to finish tied for eighth place. However, popular golfers Tiger Woods (plus-four) and Phil Mickelson (plus-12) did not fare as well during the week.

Still, the story of the day is the great play of Dufner. Coming off a 63 in Round 2, he got off to a great start Sunday thanks to back-to-back birdies on holes No. 4 and No. 5. These types of shots from the fairway helped give him the lead early on.

While he missed a number of opportunities for birdies with his putting on the back nine, he avoided mistakes to stay ahead of the pack.

As Kelly Tilghman of Golf Channel notes, Dufner was seriously helping himself with his irons:

However, a victory was never certain thanks to the player's recent history. SportsCenter points out the past struggles he's had at the PGA Championship:

That did not happen this time around despite strong play from Furyk, who just refused to give up. He continued to stay within striking range and made some key putts late. 

Still, Dufner continued to make shots like this to stay ahead in the final pairing:

Finally, the 36-year-old veteran closed it out with a two-putt on the 18th green to win it all. 

This is the first career major for Dufner, who had two previous top-five showings at the PGA Championship in 2010 and 2011. He also finished tied for fourth at this year's U.S. Open to help him get up to No. 21 in the world rankings, although that number is certain to rise after this win.

The victory also makes him the 12th first-time winner in the last 15 major championships, with only Mickelson, McIlroy and Ernie Els being the exceptions. 

ESPN's John Buccigross also has this impressive statistic, showing the parity in the sport:

Of course, if Dufner continues to play the way he did this week, there is a good chance there will be more majors in the future. 

This was the final major tournament of the year, but there are still notable events remaining on the schedule. The FedEx Cup Championship features the top golfers in the world, all of whom will be trying to take home one of the biggest cash prizes of the year.

With top players like Woods and Mickelson looking for bounce-back performances and Dufner looking to keep up his momentum, there is certain to be plenty of excitement in the coming weeks. 

Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for the latest breaking news and analysis.