Tiger rallies at Memorial
Two holes, two towering shots, two clutch birdies.
Just like that, Tiger Woods broke out of a four-way tie and won the Memorial at Dublin, Ohio, on Sunday with a 7-under 65 to cap off a high-charged comeback. And just as suddenly, he silenced the skeptics who wondered if he was ready to defend his title in the U.S. Open in two weeks at Bethpage Black.
“I knew I could do this,” Woods said after birdies on the final two holes gave him a one-shot victory. “I was close to winning, but the game wasn’t quite there when I really needed it on Sunday. I rectified that.”
First came a 9-iron at No. 17 that Woods launched as high as he could, allowing the ball to land softly on the top shelf of a rock-hard green for a 9-foot birdie putt. More brilliance followed on the 18th, when Woods hit a 7-iron from 183 yards that stopped a foot from the hole, wrapping up his fourth title at Muirfield Village.
There were no surprises Sunday for Woods, the best sign of all.
He hit the ball where he was aiming and found every fairway in the final round, the first time he had done that on the PGA Tour in more than five years. He missed only five fairways all week, his best performance off the tee since the 1998 Masters.
“It was nice to play this well going into the U.S. Open,” Woods said.
Jim Furyk, part of the four-way tie on the back nine, made a 20-foot birdie putt on the final hole that gave him a 69 and allowed him to finish alone in second.
Woods finished at 12-under 276 and won his 67th career title.
LPGA
In-Kyung Kim birdied two of the final three holes to beat Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak by a stroke in the State Farm Classic at Springfield, Ill.
Kim shot a 7-under 65 to finish at 17-under 271 on the Panther Creek course, giving the 20-year-old South Korean player her second LPGA Tour victory along with a big boost heading into the LPGA Championship next week at Bulle Rock.
In the process, Kim denied Pak (66) her first win in two years.
Champions Tour
Bernhard Langer became the first three-time winner on the Champions Tour this season, closing with a 5-under 67 for a six-stroke victory over Mark O’Meara in the Triton Financial Classic at Lakeway, Texas.
The German star, a seven-time winner since joining the Champions Tour late in the 2007 season, finished at 15-under 201 on The Hills Country Club course, matching the tournament record set by Scott Hoch in 2007.
O’Meara, winless on the Champions Tour, shot a 70 for his third runner-up finish of the year and sixth overall, while Dana Quigley shot a 69 to end up another shot back.