DUBLIN, Ohio — On Tuesday, Jack Nicklaus, addressing Tiger Woods not having won a golf tournament since 2013, said he believes Woods needs to “learn how to win again.’’
“We all have to learn how to win again,’’ Nicklaus said.
On Wednesday, the eve of the opening round of The Memorial at Muirfield, where Nicklaus serves as the host, Woods agreed with the man whose major championship record (18) he’s been chasing for more than two decades.
“I think that’s understanding what it takes to finish it off and get a W,’’ Woods said. “I’ve been on runs where it just came pretty easy, getting W’s, and other stretches where it was very difficult. To me, this is a little bit different because I’m coming back off of not really playing for a while.
“I remember the feelings when I was at Valspar (in March), when I had a chance to win there (and) finished second. It really felt comfortable. Hopefully, I can just shoot the low round when I need it.’’
Woods, who’s playing in his ninth official PGA Tour event this season in his return from back surgery, is playing The Memorial for the first time since 2015, when he shot a stunning 85 in the third round, his highest score as a pro. But he’s won The Memorial five times, so there’s still some mental and muscle memory.
“It’s great to be back,’’ Woods said. “I obviously haven’t played in a few years and have a lot of great memories here. I’ve always enjoyed playing Jack’s place, and this year is no different. It’s just great to be back playing a golf course that I’ve always loved.’’
Woods’ last tournament was the Players Championship at Sawgrass, where he finished tied for 11th after playing the weekend in 10-under par.
“I took a couple weeks off and was able to recharge and get ready for this stretch through the US Open,’’ Woods said. “I got a chance to play Shinnecock the last couple days, take a look at it.’’
Nicklaus chatted with Woods for a few moments during Wednesday’s pro-am practice round (which Woods played alongside Peyton Manning) and complimented him on how far he’s come in his latest comeback attempt.
“He was saying that my swing’s starting to look a little bit better,’’ Woods said. “I said, ‘Yeah, I’m really not that far away,’ and he totally agreed. He just kept urging me to be patient with it because he could see that I’ve made some pretty big strides this year and not far away from putting it all together.’’
Said Nicklaus: “I like what he’s done with his golf swing. I think Tiger’s swing right now is probably better than it was. He didn’t win his tournaments with his long game. He won his tournaments because he could figure out how to get it out of trouble, get it somewhere around the green, and his short game has always been fantastic and it’s still fantastic. So I think that if Tiger can just play reasonably well tee to green, with his short game, he will be in contention.
“He has got to get through the barrier of not having done it (win) for a while,’’ Nicklaus went on.
“When you haven’t won, that always happens, and that’s human nature. But when you got a guy that’s as good as he is and as competitive as he is, he’ll break through that barrier. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see Tiger win this week, not at all. He’s playing well, he loves the golf course, he’s always played well here, and his remembrance of what he’s done here will come back into his head. That will help him play better.’’