Tiger Woods reemerged with a new victory, his second of the season, by winning The Memorial Tournament, of the American Tour and endowed with 6.2 million dollars in prize money. After two years of drought and a playing crisis, Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March in what was considered the confirmation of his recovery as a player. That return to the top was endorsed today when he won The Memorial after a great last round that allowed him to recover three places to take the title. “To do it here with Jack watching on the last hole … it means a lot to all of us,” Woods said. “We all look up to him, and he’s the greatest champion that ever lived,” Tiger said of Nicklaus, whom he tied with 73 PGA Tour victories, the second most on the circuit. Sam Snead is the all-time leader with 82 wins.
Tiger began his journey to his fifth Memorial victory on hole two at Muirfield Village GC in Dublin by making birdie, which he repeated on holes 5, 6 and 7, and although he missed on 8 and 10, he came back on top on the final stretch of the course with new holes under par on 15, 16 and 18 to complete 67 for the day, five under for a total of 279 (-9).
The key was on the 16th hole, with his ball in an impossible place behind the green, Woods holed a 50-foot chip shot that propelled him straight to the title at the Memorial. One more birdie on the 18th was enough to make the difference over the rest of his rivals, especially the Argentine Andres Romero, another of the protagonists of the day and today his fiercest enemy.
Romero also shot 67, in his case with a brilliant eagle on the 15th hole, four birdies and a single bogey that left him in second place next to South African Rory Sabbatini, leader until today, and who in his last round had to settle for par.
“I’m super satisfied with what I did,” Romero told the PGA Tour’s official website after finishing his outstanding performance, which brought him a prize of $545,600 and practically secures his card for 2013.
The tie for second was “Pigu’s” best performance on the PGA Tour since his victory at the 2008 Zurich Classic and his first Top 10 of the year in 14 appearances.
American Spencer Levin, who started the final round as leader, once again wasted a chance to win on the PGA Tour with a 75-stroke card and finished tied for fourth place along with compatriot Danniel Summerhays with 283 total strokes.
Ricky Fowler, another of the Americans who started out with a chance of contending by playing the last day in Tiger Woods’ group, had an afternoon to forget, shooting a horrible 84 with a double bogey on the last hole.
Heading into the U.S. Open at Olympic Club on June 14, Woods will be happy to drag this level to San Francisco.
“You saw some good stuff out there today,” Woods said. “I didn’t really miss a shot.”
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