Tiger Woods chases No. 1 ranking in return to the Memorial

Woods rose to No. 5 in the world rankings for the first time since 2014 despite limited action and a missed cut at the PGA Championship. Can he close the gap this week at Muirfield Village?

Sometimes the best action is inaction. Just ask Tiger Woods, who moved up in the Official World Golf Ranking this week by sitting out the Charles Scwabb Challenge, instead choosing to rest beneath a blanket of sewn-together Green Jackets.

Woods flipped positions with Justin Thomas, swapping the No. 5 and No. 6 spots while Thomas remained sidelined by a nagging wrist injury. Both players have previously held the No. 1 ranking (Woods for 683 total weeks, Thomas for a less impressive, though noticeably more recent four-week stretch in 2018) and will return to Muirfield Village for the Memorial Tournament on Thursday with their sights set on reclaiming the crown.

Like most events on the PGA Tour, Tiger has fond memories at the Memorial. He won the event five times, beginning with back-to-back-to-back titles from 1999-2001. Keep in mind, the first time Tiger won at Memorial, Justin Thomas hadn’t come down off the sugar rush from the cake at his sixth birthday party.

When you’ve been on Tour as long at Tiger has, the good memories come with some bad ones, too. In 2013, Tiger defended his last Memorial victory by carding a 44 on the inward nine on Saturday, part of the fifth-worst round of his career. He finished a whopping 20 shots behind eventual champion and current FedEx Cup leader Matt Kuchar.

With a (mostly) happy bag of memories, Tiger should be in the right place, both physically and mentally, to contend again this year. Regardless of whether he’s competing for a sixth Memorial title or struggling to break 80, it’s safe to assume he’ll dominate the coverage.

As always, we’ll be ready to critique every moment. That comes with the territory of being in the top-five. I can think of 683 reasons he’d be used to it.