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Woods feels he's back after another magic moment

ESPN staff
June 4, 2012
Tiger Woods will leave the media to decide if he's back © Getty Images
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Tiger Woods has hailed the shot that effectively won him his fifth Memorial Tournament as "one of the hardest I've ever pulled off".

Woods, who equalled Jack Nicklaus' record of 73 PGA Tour victories with the win on Sunday, chipped-in from a near-impossible spot behind the 16th green on his way to a two-shot victory at Muirfield Village.

At the time of the shot Woods was one behind leader Rory Sabbatini, and facing a bogey at the par-three. But, with very little green ahead of him and water looming, the 14-time major champion flopped a perfect pitch shot that landed on the edge of the green and trickled down towards the hole - eventually dropping in the right-half of the cup.

Woods went on to defeat Sabbatini by two - rising to No. 4 in the latest world rankings as a result.

"It was one of the hardest ones I've pulled off," Woods said of the crucial swing. "The shot was really difficult, but it wouldn't have been so bad if I had a good lie. If the lie was decent, it would not have brought water into play. That was the thing.

"That's one of the reasons why I took such a big cut at it is to try to undercut it enough so if I missed it I missed it short and if it had enough speed it wouldn't snag it and tug it long left, so obviously the hosel wouldn't have been snagged by the grass.

"I went for it. I pulled it off, and for it to land as soft as it did was kind of a surprise because it was baked out and it was also downhill running away from me. It just fell in. I didn't think it was going to get there at one point.

"Kind of like 16 at Augusta, I thought I was going to leave it short somehow, and then it fell in."

Nicklaus, who designed the Muirfield Village layout and hosts the tournament, had high praise for Woods' decisive shot.

"Tiger has been struggling, he found himself in a position in a tournament, and it was either fish or cut bait," the 18-time major champion said. "He had one place to land the ball, he's playing a shot that if he leaves it short, he's going to leave himself again a very difficult shot, if he hits it long, he's going to probably lose the tournament.

"He lands the ball exactly where it has to land. It doesn't make a difference whether it went in the hole or not. Going in the hole was a bonus. But what a shot.

"I don't think under the circumstances I've ever seen a better shot."

However, Woods was keen to highlight the overall quality of his play on Sunday, as he breezed to a round of 67 that included very few errant shots.

"Today was fun because I striped it," he added. "I just... from the word go, the only shot I tugged, double-crossed, was the second shot on 10. Other than that, it was just every shot was exactly the shape, the trajectory, the distance control. I had it all today."

When asked, once again, if he was 'back', Woods added: "I'm sure by Tuesday I'll be retired and done, and then by the time I tee it up at the US Open it might be something different. But I'll let you guys figure that out."

Elsewhere, Wales Open winner Thongchai Jaidee is up to 114th in the world after his triumph at Celtic Manor.

World rankings: 1. Luke Donald (ENG), 2. Rory McIlroy (NIR), 3. Lee Westwood (ENG), 4. Tiger Woods (USA), 5. Bubba Watson (USA), 6. Matt Kuchar (USA), 7. Justin Rose (ENG), 8. Hunter Mahan (USA), 9. Jason Dufner (USA), 10. Martin Kaymer (GER), 11. Steve Stricker (USA), 12. Phil Mickelson (USA), 13. Webb Simpson (USA), 14, Charl Schwartzel (RSA), 15. Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), 16. Zach Johnson (USA), 17, Adam Scott (AUS), 18. Rickie Fowler (USA), 19. Jason Day (AUS), 20. Dustin Johnson (USA).

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