SUNRIVER — Rod Perry needed some convincing that he was among the best players among the club professionals in the PGA of America.

The 39-year-old Florida pro will not have to worry about that anymore.

Perry proved he is indeed among the best by beating them all at the 2013 PGA Professional National Championship at Crosswater Club. Perry shot a final-round 3-under-par 69 on Wednesday to post 10 under for the tournament, outpacing Houston pro Ryan Polzin by three strokes.

“This is obviously by far the biggest win of my career,” said Perry. “This is more on a national stage. So yeah, it’s huge.”

Under the same gray skies that loomed over Crosswater every day of the four-day championship, the significance of what the clearly ecstatic Perry had just accomplished was not lost on him in the moments after his win.

Perry gained exemptions into six PGA Tour events over a 12-month period and earned $75,000. He also secured a spot in the PGA Cup, a Ryder Cup-style event that pits U.S. club pros against Great Britain pros.

And he was one of 20 golfers who punched a ticket Wednesday to the 2013 PGA Championship in August at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., Perry’s second consecutive trip to the major championship.

“When the bell rings there (Oak Hill) on Thursday morning everybody is the same, Tiger (Woods) included,” said Perry of taking on the world’s best in the PGA Championship. “So I’m tied with Tiger.”

Perry’s week in Central Oregon got rolling with a course-record 8-under-par 63 Sunday at Sunriver’s Meadows course in the tournament’s first round.

He started the final round at 7 under and a shot back from the co-leaders, Virginia’s Chip Sullivan and Pennsylvania pro Mark Sheftic.

But by the turn the left-handed Perry had taken control over the tournament when he made his third birdie of the day on the par-4 10th hole, pushing him to 10 under par.

Perry’s lead over Polzin and Illinois pro Mike Small grew to three strokes when Polzin bogeyed the 13th.

It was just the start Perry was looking for.

“Knowing to win, you have to play well and make birdies,” said Perry, the PGA of America’s 2012 player of the year. “At times, par is OK. But obviously, moving forward was the big thing.”

Playing in the group ahead of Perry, Polzin did put pressure on the leader after a bogey on the 15th dropped Perry to 9 under.

Polzin birdied 16 and then rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th, which yielded just three birdies all day. An excited Polzin pumped his fist in the air.

“I felt like I would have a chance,” he said.

But Perry closed the door moments later when he hit his own downhill 15-footer for birdie on the par-5 16th hole.

“When I saw that fist pump on 17 and I knew Ryan had made another birdie, I knew I had to make that putt,” said Perry, adding urgency because of the difficulty that awaited on Crosswater’s hazardous finishing holes. “Fortunately, I made a good stroke and the ball went in.”

Polzin hooked his tee shot into a hazard on the par-4 18th and limped in with a double bogey, securing the win for Perry.

“I hit driver there (No. 18) every day, and I’ve hit it fine,” said Polzin, 33, who still earned a trip to the PGA Championship and earned $48,000. “I just got quick. Emotions got to me a little bit and I yanked it and made double bogey.

“I’m not going to let that bring me down. It was a magical week for me.”

Earlier in the day Sheftic, the director of instruction at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. (site of the recent U.S. Open), took the lead outright at 9 under with a birdie on the first hole.

But he pulled his tee shot to the left on the par-3 seventh hole and it struck a spectator on the head. The ball caromed some 20 yards into the hazard, leading to a double bogey that dropped Sheftic to 7 under and out of the lead.

He finished the round at 4 under.

“The most important thing is that he (the unlucky spectator) is OK, but if it doesn’t hit the guy I’m in position to make par or bogey,” a clearly disappointed Sheftic said after his round. “That sort of put a chink in the armor. If you make bogey, it’s no big deal, but you can’t make double bogey in this kind of tournament.”

Perry, the head pro at Crane Lakes Golf Course in Port Orchard, Fla., was a late bloomer.

He attended Mississippi State University but “wasn’t decorated enough or skilled enough to play college golf,” he said.

Yet on Wednesday he finished out a stress-free par on 18 and headed straight to the scorer’s tent to sign his winning card, making official his triumph over a talented field of the game’s best working professionals.

When he emerged from the tent, he was greeted by his wife, Jaclyn, and their two young children, Vanessa and Carson.

His wife kissed him and said, “I’m so proud of you.”

There was good reason. Perry undoubtedly had just staked his claim to being among the best club professionals in the country.

“Winning that award in 2012 kind of made me think for a second, ‘Hey, maybe I am one of the best players in the PGA, and maybe I can compete on a consistent basis,” said Perry, who finished in second place at the 2012 PNC. “Thankfully, one of our great players didn’t get hot … and it left the gates open, if you will, and I was able to come through.”

The PGA Professional National Championship

What: 72-hole tournament featuring the top club professionals from around the country

When: Began Sunday, concluded Wednesday

Where: Sunriver Resort’s Meadows course and Crosswater Club

• See Scoreboard on C2 for final results