Tiger Woods began the final round of The Memorial Golf Tournament at 5 under par and 4 strokes behind tournament co-leaders Mark Wilson and Matt Betterncourt, who stood at 9 under par. The one thing Tiger has shown us over the years is that he can come from behind to win golf tournaments, but could he make up 4 shots on the difficult Muirfield Village Golf Course? He answered that question quickly, making birdies on 4 of his first 7 holes, reaching 9 under par and putting himself in a great position to win a record fourth Memorial Golf Tournament. A bogey on No. 8 dropped him to 8 under par, but then, 3 holes later, Tiger pulled off one of his patented chip ins on No. 11 for an eagle which moved him to 10 under par. He birdied No. 15, stumbled slightly making a bogey on No. 16, then regained his composure to birdie No. 17 before hitting his approach shot on No. 18 to within one foot of the hole for a tap in birdie. In his final round, Tiger had 7 birdies, one eagle, and 2 bogies for a round of 7 under par 65, giving him a total for the golf tournament of 12 under par.
Jim Furyk played a steady final round with 5 birdies and 2 bogies for a round of 3 under par 69 and a total for the golf tournament of 11 under par. Furyk was trailing by 2 strokes, but was able to close the gap to 1 stroke with a birdie on No. 18. Neither of the two co-leaders could break par in the final round, with Mark Wilson shooting a 1 over par 73 and Matt Bettencourt shooting a 3 over par 75.
The one statistic that shows Tiger is playing about as well as he ever has, and that he appears ready to defend his U.S. Open crown in 2 weeks, is his driving accuracy. He hit every fairway in the final round of The Memorial, and driving accuracy is one of the most important aspects of your game if you want to have a chance of winning a U.S. Open. I look for Tiger to be one of the few, and the first since Curtis Strange in 1989, to win back to back U.S. Open titles.