DUBLIN, Ohio – For the second straight day at the Memorial, Tiger Woods got off to a hot start but was unable to sustain the momentum. Here are some closing thoughts from Muirfield Village, where Woods shot a 67 to finish the week at 9 under:
• There was admittedly a point where things were rolling. Woods played perhaps his best round since slipping into the green jacket, and after walking in a birdie putt on No. 12 he was 7 under on his round and all the way up into a tie for fourth.
• Woods made the turn in 5-under 31, and through 12 holes there wasn’t a blemish on the stat line as he hit every fairway and every green in regulation. But from there things got a little squirrely, as he hit only four of his final six greens in regulation and found equal parts thick rough and sand. It was a similar story in the third round, when he went out in 32 and came home in 38.
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• The biggest blemish came at the short 14th hole, where Woods walked away with bogey for the second straight day after standing in the middle of the fairway with a wedge. This time the issue came as he flew the green and had almost no chance to get close to the hole with his third. “I tried to just hit a soft, little clippy cut with the wedge,” Woods said. “And I hit it way too flat.”
• Woods said his goal for the day was to “get to double digits,” and he reached as high as 11 under. But the bogey on No. 14, along with a dropped shot on No. 18 where he left an ambitious pitch attempt in the rough, left him at 9 under and in a tie for 10th when he signed his card.
• His closing stat line shines a light on why the fourth round was his best: 12-of-14 fairways and 14-of-18 greens in regulation, both the highest totals of the week, along with 26 putts, his lowest total of the week.
• In a week that had more ups than downs, Woods put a positive spin on things as he begins to turn his attention to the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. “Each day I got a little more crisp,” Woods said. “A couple loose iron shots here and there, but overall I drove it great this week.”
• Woods will now return home for a few days of rest and preparation before heading west to Pebble Beach to renew his quest for a fourth U.S. Open title. “I was hoping to get something positive going into the Open, and I was able to accomplish that which is great,” Woods said. “Get some nice, positive momentum going into a nice practice week.”