Golf:Tiger Woods sounded an ominous warning to his rivals for this month's US Open in New York with a vintage display in winning the Memorial tournament by one shot last night.
The world number one clinched the title for a record fourth time, hitting every fairway at Muirfield Village Golf Club in the final round before clinching his 67th PGA Tour victory with a superb seven-under-par 65.
It was his second title this year in seven starts on the US circuit and silenced critics who had argued Woods was not back to his best after being sidelined for eight months while recovering from reconstructive knee surgery.
The US Open will be held from June 18th-21st at Bethpage's Black Course in New York where Woods will start as the overwhelming favourite.
Not only did he win the US Open when it was last held at Bethpage in 2002 but he will be defending the title he won last year in a play-off at Torrey Pines outside San Diego.
"It was nice to play this well going into the US Open," said a smiling Woods after shooting the best score in the final round by two shots.
"This is how you have to hit it in order to win US Opens, especially Bethpage. That golf course is as big as they come. You have to hit the ball well all week. I did that in 2002, and that was one of the reasons why I was up there."
Four strokes off the pace going into the final round at Memorial, Woods sealed victory with a thrilling birdie-birdie finish on arguably the course's two toughest holes.
"My hat's off to him," said fellow American Jim Furyk, who birdied the par-four last for a 69 and second place at 11-under 277. "Birdieing the last two is pretty special. Those pins weren't in easy spots.
"I cleared the rest of the field by three shots and just didn't beat one guy. I'm disappointed. It sucks finishing second. But he played better. A 65 today on those greens is pretty spectacular."
Woods, who won his 66th PGA Tour title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, was delighted with his ball-striking all week at Memorial.
"I really controlled my flight and felt in control with shaping the ball both ways," he said. "I didn't really have a problem hitting it either way.
"That's when you know you feel like you're in control of what you're doing. I didn't hit any surprises out there.
"I always want to come here and play," Woods said of the PGA Tour event hosted by Jack Nicklaus. "This is one of the greatest golf courses we get to play on all year, and that includes the major championships.
"If you play well here, it always gives you a lot of confidence going into a major championship. This is set up sometimes harder than a major."
Asked to recall when he had last hit the ball as well for all four rounds at a tournament, he replied: "Hoylake. I did all right there."
Woods won the 2006 British Open at Hoylake by two shots after what he then described as one of the best ball-striking weeks of his career.
Collated final round scores & totals
(USA unless stated, par 72):
276 Tiger Woods 69 74 68 65
277 Jim Furyk 67 70 71 69
280 Jonathan Byrd 69 68 71 72, Mark Wilson 68 70 69 73
282 Davis Love III 72 68 69 73, Matt Kuchar 73 67 71 71, Matt Bettencourt 71 68 68 75
283 Ernie Els (Rsa) 70 70 71 72, Stewart Cink 68 72 72 71
284 Will MacKenzie 70 73 73 68, Mike Weir (Can) 69 69 75 71, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 72 74 63 75
285 K J Choi (Kor) 73 70 72 70
286 Michael Letzig 72 70 69 75, Nick Watney 73 71 74 68, Jerry Kelly 72 72 75 67, Chris DiMarco 73 67 73 73, Dustin Johnson 73 68 72 73, Hunter Mahan 74 69 70 73, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 72 69 73 72, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 70 69 74 73, Luke Donald (Eng) 64 76 72 74
287 Steve Marino 68 72 73 74, Bubba Watson 71 71 70 75, Kevin Sutherland 69 75 73 70, Alex Cejka (Ger) 73 68 73 73
288 Steve Stricker 70 74 73 71, Kenny Perry 72 73 75 68, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 69 71 74 74, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 73 73 70 72, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 72 68 77 71, Woody Austin 75 70 73 70, Jason Day (Aus) 67 73 75 73
289 Kevin Na 71 72 73 73, Camilo Villegas (Col) 71 74 73 71
290 Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 74 74 68 74, Jeff Overton 76 69 71 74, Ted Purdy 67 79 75 69, Troy Matteson 69 73 71 77, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 74 71 74 71
291 Robert Allenby (Aus) 72 76 68 75, Steve Flesch 73 75 74 69, Ben Curtis 71 71 72 77, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 73 72 74 72
292 Lucas Glover 75 69 72 76, Tom Lehman 71 74 74 73, Johnson Wagner 69 74 76 73
293 Charley Hoffman 71 72 76 74, Jeff Quinney 75 72 74 72, Lee Janzen 72 73 75 73, D.J. Trahan 73 74 69 77, Webb Simpson 73 71 73 76
294 John Senden (Aus) 71 74 74 75, Ian Poulter (Eng) 75 71 74 74, Reinier Saxton (Ned) 69 75 72 78, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 71 76 72 75, Tom Pernice Jnr. 71 74 73 76
295 Zach Johnson 71 73 75 76, Marc Leishman (Aus) 74 74 70 77, Steve Lowery 76 71 71 77, David Duval 71 74 74 76, Nicholas Thompson 69 75 78 73
296 Paul Casey (Eng) 73 70 75 78, George McNeill 76 69 75 76, Tim Herron 75 73 76 72, Brett Quigley 74 73 78 71, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 73 73 76 74, Chez Reavie 71 74 72 79
299 Jeff Klauk 76 71 79 73, Bill Haas 74 72 77 76, Mark Brooks 75 73 76 75
300 D.A. Points 75 70 75 80, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 72 74 76 78
301 Scott McCarron 74 74 82 71, Marc Turnesa 72 73 78 78
302 Erik Compton 72 75 74 81, Rocco Mediate 73 70 81 78
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