Who knows if what Tiger Woods did on Sunday signals a true return to the greatness that defined him as perhaps golf’s most dynamic player of all time? But he sure looked like that guy.
Down to Rory Sabatini by two strokes with four holes remaining, Woods made birdie on three of the last four holes at The Memorial Sunday in Columbus, Ohio to pull off a dramatic comeback to take the title created by legend Jack Nicklaus.
Jack Nicklaus salutes Tiger Woods' comeback win.
This was the same Woods who has been erratic after winning at Bay Hill a few months ago. Through all the inconsistency, he insisted he was close to returning to championship form after several months after going through swing changes.
Sunday at Muirfield Village, Woods was pure. He started the day four shots behind Spencer Levin, but posted a 5-under 67 in a sparkling round of golf. Nice stuff with the U.S. Open in San Francisco at Olympic Club in two weeks.
“Hit it good,” Woods said. “That was some good stuff. I hit it great. Had the pace of the greens and hit a few putts.”
Woods electrified those around the 16th green with a vintage spectacular play. After hitting his tee shot on the par 3 long and right and into the coarse rough, he left himself with a difficult lie to a green that was sloping away from him with a lake on the other side.
But Woods took a big swing with a wedge under the ball, popping it into the air and just onto the green, where it took the slope and slowly, tantalizingly, tracked toward and finally into the hole for a birdie.
The crowd went wild as Woods accentuated the awesome shot with his legendary fist pump.
Nicklaus, called it “the gutsiest shot I’ve ever seen.”
Even Woods impressed himself. “That was something,” he said. “If I leave it short, it rolls left (a long way from the hole). If I hit it long, it’s in the water. And I didn’t have a good lie. . . But I hit it just perfect.”
And when Sabatini, who overtook Levin, came behind Woods and bogeyed the 16th, there was a new leader, and he was wearing his traditional red shirt on Sunday.
Woods just missed another birdie on 17 and but sank a birdie putt on No. 18 to assure his 73rd championship, tying him with Jack Nicklaus for second on the all-time PGA win list behind Sam Snead, who had 82.
““It’s been a nice run since I turned pro,” Woods said of his career. “To (tie Nicklaus) at age 36 is not too shabby. I’m proud of what I have done. I feel like I have a lot of good years ahead of me.”
Looks that way.
