Tiger Woods tees off on Thursday at the Memorial Tournament. The No. 1 ranked golfer can claim his sixth title in 13 trips to Jack Nicklaus' tournament, the Associated press reports. Vijay Singh and Rory McIlroy see a chance to dethrone the reigning title winner.
The tournament begins on Thursday. You can watch it for free HERE.
"For some reason, I just feel comfortable on (Nicklaus-designed) golf courses, the way he sets it up," Woods told reporters. "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."
Woods has traditionally faired well at the tournament. He won in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2009 and last year. The tournament's also padded his wallet nicely — he's won more than $5 million from it.
"Obviously, (the course) fits his eye," Nicklaus told reporters. "I'm delighted that this is one of the golf courses that he likes."
He's on a hot streak this season, winning four of seven PGA events to reclaim the No. 1 spot as the world's top golfer.
McIlroy, who will compete against Woods in the tournament, was asked why Woods does so well at the event.
"The same reason he's done so well everywhere, I guess," McIlroy replied.
Woods' success this season has been largely overshadowed by extraneous golfing news. His spat with Sergio Garcia inundated news headlines and minimized his 78th PGA Tour career win at The Players Championship earlier this month.
"That's already done with," Woods told ESPN reporters on Wednesday when asked about Garcia.
Tournament host Nicklaus also weighed in on the squabble.
"The Sergio-Tiger thing, I mean it's stupid," he told reporters. "I mean ... do guys have an issue with one another? They usually resolve it themselves. You guys want to resolve it in the newspapers today. Nobody needs that. And I think they both finally said it's enough. Let's move on."
Vijay Singh, who in the Memorial Tournament, also made headlines after filing a lawsuit against the PGA Tour for the "humiliation" that their deer-antler spray investigation created for him.
The tournament starts on Thursday and continues through Friday.
