Urged on by his hometown crowd, American JJ Henry has eased to his maiden PGA Tour title by three shots at the Buick Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut.

The Connecticut native, two strokes clear at the start of the day, fired a three-under-par 67 in bright sunshine at the TPC at River Highlands to finish at 14-under 266.

Three birdies over the front nine stretched his lead to five and he was able to shrug off two bogeys after the turn before sealing victory in the event where he made his Tour debut as an amateur.

Hunter Mahan birdied the final two holes for a 65 to share second place with fellow American Ryan Moore, the 2004 US amateur champion, who closed with a 67.

Australian Nathan Green returned a 66 to finish fourth at nine under, two ahead of a group of four including 1997 winner Stewart Cink (67) and Japan's Shigeki Maruyama (66).

Making his 177th career appearance on the PGA Tour as a professional, Henry birdied the third, eighth and ninth to reach the turn in three-under-par 32.

Although he bogeyed the par-four 12th, where he found the front greenside bunker with his approach, he picked up further shots on 11 and 14 to stay well clear of the chasing pack.

He also dropped at the par-four 17th, after missing the green to the right with his second shot, before a rock-solid par at the last earned him his breakthrough win.

Having previously posted three runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour, the most recent coming at the Phoenix Open in February, he safely putted out from 18 feet to secure the winner's cheque for $US792,000 ($A1.07 million).

Henry, who was born in nearby Fairfield but now lives in Fort Worth, Texas, made his first PGA Tour start at the 1998 Buick Championship, finishing in a tie for 56th.

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