AP
Tiger edged Jim Furyk by one stroke for his fourth Memorial trophy.
DUBLIN, Ohio -- Earlier in the week, Tiger Woods told the media his game was close to clicking. Finally able to practice after rounds on his surgically-repaired left knee, the 33-year-old said he was feeling more comfortable with his swing, especially his driver.
Sunday, at spectacular Muirfield Village Golf Club, it all came together. Woods didn't miss a fairway and fired a near-flawless 7-under-par 65 to win the Memorial Tournament for a record fourth time by one stroke over Jim Furyk. It was the second victory of the year and 67th PGA Tour title for Woods, who finished with a 54-hole score of 12-under 276.
"I knew it was coming around," said Woods, who has now posted six straight top-10 showings this year and has won 19 of his last 35 starts. "I just wasn't as consistent as I needed to be."
Paired with Michael Letzig, the top-ranked Woods started the final round four strokes behind co-leaders Matt Bettencourt and Mark Wilson. After parring the first hole, Woods hit a poor pitching wedge from 150 yards at the par-4 second, winding up 37 feet from the hole. But he buried the birdie putt -- his longest sink of the week -- to pull within three shots of the lead.
Woods had a good birdie opportunity at the par-4 third, but missed low. He didn't miss at the par-3 fourth, where he knocked his tee shot six feet from the pin for his second birdie of the day. Woods followed with a birdie at the par-5 fifth, getting up-and-down from a greenside bunker.
At the par-5 seventh, Woods converted a five-foot birdie putt to close within one of the lead. But he dropped a shot at the par-3 eighth, missing the green left and then a six-foot, par putt. He parred No. 9 to make the turn in 3-under 33, but fell three shots off the pace.
After missing a 16-foot birdie putt at the par-4 10th, Woods blasted a long drive at the par-5 11th, then knocked his second shot over the back of the green with a fairway wood into deep rough. Somehow, Woods chopped a beautifully executed sand wedge onto the green, and the ball rolled dead-center into the cup for an eagle, igniting the massive crowd around the putting surface.
Suddenly, Woods trailed by only one.
After three consecutive pars, Woods hit a nice drive at the par-5 15th and reached the green in two with an iron, the ball running 42 feet beyond the hole. Playing about eight feet of break, he judged the putt perfectly and left himself a tap-in birdie to earn his first lead of the tournament.
Woods bogeyed the par-3 16th hole, finding the left-greenside bunker. With little green to work with, he blasted nine feet past the hole and missed the par putt.
But Woods regrouped quickly. He hit a gorgeous second shot to the par-4 17th hole and nailed a nine-foot putt to retake the lead. Then, he saved his best for last.
At the par-4 18th, Woods found the fairway for the 14th straight time. Then he devoured the flag with a 7-iron from 183 yards, the ball stopping one foot from the hole for a finishing birdie and two-stroke cushion.
As it turned out, he needed it. Furyk also birdied the 18th hole to finish one stroke back.
"I just didn't beat one guy," Furyk said. "But he played better. A 7-under on those greens and with the conditions we dealt with, that's pretty spectacular. I just wish you all would just quit [ticking] him off so he has to come back and keep proving stuff. I think he answered a lot of questions today."
For the week, Woods hit 87.5 percent of the fairways in regulation -- second in the field -- and tied for third in greens in regulation at 73.6 percent. The last time Woods hit every fairway was in the second round of the 2003 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Letzig was impressed.
"I've never see anyone hit irons like that," he said. "I tried not to watch him, but some of those shots were unreal."
Woods will return to competition June 18, when he begins his defense of his U.S. Open title at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y.