Tiger Woods ticks boxes at Memorial Tournament in his build-up to Pebble Beach challenge at US Open Tiger Woods registered a steady final round 67 at the Memorial Tournament He was playing only his sixth round since his astonishing victory at the Masters Jack Nicklaus believes Woods is playing his best golf since his back fusion The 43-year-old is in fine form ahead of the US Open at Pebble Beach next weekBy Derek Lawrenson for the Daily Mail Published: 22:30 BST, 2 June 2019 | Updated: 23:00 BST, 2 June 2019 Viewcomments Tiger Woods completed his competitive preparations for the US Open at Pebble Beach next week with a final round 67 at the Memorial Tournament on Sunday — and a ringing endorsement from tournament host Jack Nicklaus. ‘I’d go so far as to say that Tiger is swinging the club better now at the age of 43 than before he had his back fusion,’ enthused the Golden Bear. Woods was playing only his sixth round since his astonishing victory at the Masters seven weeks ago. In terms of getting back up to speed following his missed cut at the US PGA Championship, this performance ticked plenty of boxes. Tiger Woods registered a steady final round 67 at the Memorial Tournament Having dismissed his chances of winning at 11 shots off the pace at the start, Woods climbed so rapidly he was in danger of making a mockery of his own forecast when he moved to the fringes of contention with seven birdies in the first 13 holes. An untimely bogey at the 14th, however, was followed by an annoying one at the 18th. In terms of the bigger picture, though, Woods will be heartened by the fact he found 12 out of 14 fairways at Muirfield Village and 14 of 18 greens. ‘Those loose shots are the things that can’t happen at Pebble,’ said Woods (right). ‘If I can clean those up, then I’m going to be right there in contention.’ While Woods departed for Florida, Europe’s forgotten man Martin Kaymer was in a duel with American Patrick Cantlay as he looked to end five years in the wilderness. The 43-year-old is in fine form ahead of the US Open at Pebble Beach next week The German won two majors and became world No 1 in his twenties but his thirties have been a different story. ‘Over the past three months I’ve tried to be more calm on the course, and I don’t see many weaknesses in my game right now,’ said Kaymer, whose last win came at the US Open in 2014. The 34-year-old, who began with a three-stroke lead, was level with a rampant Cantlay with six holes to play. Australian Adam Scott was three shots behind. Woods was tied eighth, with Justin Rose tied 11th. In the US Women’s Open, four shots separated the leading 17 players as the final round unfolded in Charleston. Charley Hull was one of them but running out of holes with six to play and four shots to make up. The joint leaders were Celine Boutier from France and American Jaye Marie Green. Americans Lexi Thompson and Jessica Korda were two behind. Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility