Tiger Woods: Twitter Erupts to Impressive Memorial Tournament Victory

Is Tiger Woods "back"? Or was his win at the Memorial Tournament just another blip on the erratic radar of golf's biggest draw?

We won't know for sure for some time (i.e. until the 2012 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco).

Not that the Twitter machine is waiting to spew out proclamations after what was a remarkable performance by The Golfer Alternately Known as Eldrick Tont.

Tiger finished at nine strokes under par, two strokes ahead of Andres Romero and Rory Sabbatini, the latter of whom has been known to trash Woods (h/t Tim Reyonds of the Associated Press):

"

"Tiger is more beatable than ever." _ Rory Sabbatini, 2007. #oops

— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) June 3, 2012"

The win was his fifth at the Memorial and the 73rd on the PGA Tour in Tiger's illustrious career, tying him with Jack Nicklaus for second all time in what, as ESPN's Scott Van Pelt points out, was rather fitting fashion:

"

Tiger ties Jack with 73 w's as Jack looks on @ his event ? Just sports...again.

— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) June 3, 2012"

The tweets continued to roll in from the Worldwide Leader, with fellow SportsCenter anchor John Buccigross hoping Tiger will have a date with history at Augusta two or three years down the line:

"

10 more wins for Tiger to pass Sam Snead. Should do it in 2014 or 2015 Masters #tigerwoods

— John Buccigross (@Buccigross) June 3, 2012"

Not that Tiger would need the money or anything. According to CNBC's Darren Rovell (and to the surprise of absolutely nobody), Woods has made a boatload of money from his exploits on the golf course:

"

By winning the Memorial, Tiger Woods will boost his on-course career earnings to $110,781,728.

— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) June 3, 2012"

The AP's Tim Reynolds was quick to note that Tiger's 73rd title made history of another, more fashion-conscious sort:

"

Tiger is the first person in golf history to have his 73rd career PGA win come sans plaid pants.

— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) June 3, 2012"

Plaid pants or no, Tiger looked something more like the Tiger of old on Sunday, shooting a five-under 67 on the day to make up what had been a four-stroke deficit after the first three rounds. His score was boosted by birdies in three of the last four holes, none more remarkable than this brilliant chip shot on the 16th hole at Muirfield Village Golf Club (fist pump included):

Not Bill Walton was floored by Tiger's final round, to the point where he was spewing out superlatives almost as frequently as the actual Bill Walton:

"

The hair rises on the back of my neck when I watch Tiger perform at his best, as a once in a lifetime superbeing capable of sheer miracles.

— Not Bill Walton (@NotBillWalton) June 3, 2012"

Even NBA All-Star Deron Williams was excited about Woods' big win:

"

Yeah Tiger!!!!!

— Deron Williams (@DeronWilliams) June 3, 2012"

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports was considerably more measured in singing Tiger's praises:

"

This Tiger is fun to watch. He grinds, battles, overcomes. But the oldone isn't close to "back"

— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) June 3, 2012"

But if Tiger's going to stay on the up-and-up at the U.S. Open, he'd do well to follow the advice of golf great Nick Faldo (per Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News):

"

Faldo made key point about this Tiger performance. TW did it by "throttling back" his swing. Exactly what he'll have to do at Olympic Club.

— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) June 3, 2012"

Indeed, the true measure of Tiger's success has been, is and always will be his performance in the majors. As such, the memorable win at the Memorial won't matter unless Tiger follows it up with a strong showing at the U.S. Open in San Francisco later this month.

And if you think winning an event sponsored by a fellow golf legend is reason to believe that Woods is destined to do the same at the Olympic Club, just remember that he left the Masters in a tie for 40th just after finishing atop the Arnold Palmer Invitational leaderboard in late March.

That being said, there's nothing wrong with enjoying Tiger's latest showing for what it was—a gutsy and at times brilliant performance by golf's crown jewel. 

Follow @Josh_E_Martin