Tiger closes out final round of the Memorial on positive note

Tiger Woods improved by 11 strokes, but will still finish last in the 40th Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. Shooting a PGA Tour career-worst 13-over-par 85 on Saturday, Woods rebounded with a 74 on Sunday.

He was first off, played by himself due to an uneven number of players and finished in 2 hours and 51 minutes.

“Today was a lot better,” he said. “I was just trying to shoot under par.”

A five-time winner of the event, Woods concluded the week at 14-over 302, the highest four-round total of his PGA Tour career.

Woods left the course before third-round leader Justin Rose teed off.

He said his goal Sunday was to post the best score he could.

“Just because I’m in last place, doesn’t change how I play golf,” said Tiger. “Whether it’s the first day or the last day, doesn’t matter, play all out.”

Woods got off to a good start by playing the front nine in 2-under 34 and was 3-under through 11 holes. But he slipped on the back nine, making two bogeys and double-bogeyed the par-5 15th and par-4 18th holes to shoot 40 coming in.

On the plus side, he hit 9 of 14 fairways, his best total of the week. He also carded five birdies, including three on par 5s.

Tiger will return to competition in two weeks at the U.S. Open Championship at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington.