DUBLIN, Ohio – No one is surprised when Tiger Woods wins a golf tournament.
DUBLIN, Ohio – No one is surprised when Tiger Woods wins a golf tournament.
One reason he left Muirfield Village so satisfied with his second victory of the year is that Woods wasn’t surprised, either.
What most people will remember about his 7-under 65 in the final round of the Memorial, which allowed him to make up a four-shot deficit, is the flawless finish. In a four-way tie for the lead as he stood on the 17th tee, Woods closed with two birdies, from 9 feet to take the lead, and a 7-iron from 183 yards to a foot that will become part of Memorial lore.
Woods, however, has a longer memory.
“It wasn’t just the last two holes,” he said. “It was all week.”
He only missed five fairways at Muirfield Village, matching his most accurate tournament off the tee in his 13 years on tour (he also hit 49 fairways at the 1998 Masters).
Woods twice hit powerful drives down the middle of the fairway on the par-5 15th on the weekend, both times leading to birdie. On the par-5 fifth Saturday, with enough breeze in his face that 3-wood wasn’t quite enough, he choked up 2 inches on a driver and hit a baby cut, setting up another easy birdie. In the worst of the wind, he controlled the flight of his irons.
“I didn’t really have a problem hitting it either way,” Woods said. That’s when you feel like you’re in control of what you’re doing.”
Then came the most telling comment of all.
“I didn’t hit any surprises out there,” he said.
Nothing bothers Woods more than the double miss, not knowing whether an errant shot is going left or right. That’s what he took to the first tee in the final round at the Masters and at The Players Championship. He didn’t finish either of those tournaments very well, leading to speculation that his game was not where it should be.
Just because he won the Memorial in his final tournament before the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black is no reason for the other 155 players to stay home in two weeks.
Remember, the hype was cranked up after Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in his final tune-up before the Masters. A month later, some made it sound as though he was in a slump.
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In photo: Jack Nicklaus, left, and Tiger Woods pose with the trophy after Woods won the Memorial golf tournament June 7 in Dublin, Ohio. Woods won with a 12-under 276. AP/Mike Munden
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