Tiger Woods wins Memorial Tournament

Tiger Woods won the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance at Muirfield Village Golf Club by two strokes. In claiming his 73rd PGA Tour title, he tied tournament host Jack Nicklaus in second place on the all-time list.

Woods came into the final round four behind Spencer Levin, but he produced a superb closing 67 recallin the Woods of old and featuring one of his most memorable shots.

Levin stretched his advantage with a birdie at the 1st hole. But he fell away around the turn with four dropped shots in the space of four holes. He ended the week in a tie for fourth with Daniel Summerhays.

Tiger made an early charge with birdies at the 2nd, 5th, 6th and 7th holes. He dropped back slightly with bogeys on the 8th and 10th, but struck back with birdie on the 15th.

Then on the 16th, having played through the green, Woods played a sublime parachute pitch that landed softly on the putting surface and rolled out perfectly into the cup. Speaking from the commentary booth, Jack Nicklaus was amazed by the audacity of the shot.

"He had one place to land the ball," he said. "I don't think, under the circumstances, I've ever seen a better shot."

To cap his victory, Woods birdied the final hole to finish on nine-under par. It was the fifth time he has won this event.

"That was some good stuff out there," Woods said. "I never really missed a shot today."

With the win, Woods has moved back to fourth on the Official World Golf Ranking. He has now tied with Jack Nicklaus on 73 PGA Tour victories, just nine short of Sam Snead's record 82 wins. Nicklaus was 10 years older than Woods when he reached 73 titles with victory in the 1986 US Masters.

World Number 1 Luke Donald finished strongly to end the week in a tie for 12th place.

Rickie Fowler, who began the day in contention, suffered a final round meltdown to close with an 84. In the understatement of the day, Fowler described his play as "a little off."

the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance Muirfield Village GC, Dublin, Ohio 31 May - 3 Jun, purse $6,200,000, par 72

1   Tiger Woods (USA)   70   69   73   67   279   $1,116,000 T2   Andres Romero (Arg)   69   73   72   67   281   $545,600 T2   Rory Sabbatini (RSA)   69   69   71   72   281   $545,600 T4   Spencer Levin (USA)   67   72   69   75   283   $272,800 T4   Daniel Summerhays (USA) 69 71   74   69   283   $272,800 T6   Jonathan Byrd (USA)   71   70   72   71   284   $215,450 T6   Matt Every (USA)      69   75   71   69   284   $215,450 8   Justin Rose (Eng)      73   72   71   69   285   $192,200 T9   Aaron Baddeley (Aus)   69   72   73   72   286   $167,400 T9   Ryo Ishikawa (Jap)   72   70   71   73   286   $167,400 T9   Greg Owen (Eng)      72   71   76   67   286   $167,400

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

Where next? European Tour - Thongchai Jaidee wins Wales Open