Tiger Woods has been great this year on tour and as the US Open draws closer he will be looking to keep playing well at the Memorial Tournament, which is one a Nicklaus designed course where he usually does well and chances are he will again.
After winning the players championship, Woods will be ready to take home another title whether it be here or next time at Merion for the US Open. Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus are inextricably linked as the greatest players of all time and it is probably no surprise that Woods has made a habit of flourishing on Nicklaus-designed courses.
Asked if he gained any particular insight into Nicklaus the player when he competed on Nicklaus-designed layouts, Woods replied: "Jack always was one of the best course managers that's ever lived - how he managed not just the emotions but the golf course and the strategy behind how he played it. his week, Woods is back in the leafy surrounds of Muirfield Village Golf Club for the Memorial Tournament where he is a five-times winner and defending champion at the elite PGA Tour event hosted by Nicklaus. Woods, who has not won a major title since his remarkable playoff victory at the 2008 U.S. Open, played a practice round on Tuesday in atrocious weather conditions at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, venue for the June 13-16 U.S. Open.
"I did not have an inkling that it was going to be as long as it was," Woods said of the classic, 6,846-yard layout which has long been regarded as too short to host a major. oods, who has long targeted the record 18 major titles accumulated by Nicklaus, will take next week off before he travels to Merion for the second major of the year.
Consequently, his focus at this week's Memorial Tournament will be split between his bid for another PGA Tour title and continuing his U.S. Open preparations.
"I've always played Nicklaus courses well," world number one Woods told reporters on Wednesday after playing in the pro-am competition at Muirfield Village.
"I've won on quite a few, whether it was in junior golf, college and now professional golf. For some reason, I just feel comfortable in his golf courses, the way he sets it up.
"There is ample room off the tees. The greens are really severe. If you miss the greens, it tests your short game. Those are the things that I think I do well."
(Reuters Quotes)
