Memorial Tournament 2012: Tiger Woods' Victory Doesn't Mean He's Back

Don't get me wrong, I like a good "return to prominence" story as much as the next guy.

That being said, the Memorial Tournament victory doesn't mean Tiger Woods is back to his old dominant ways.

Woods certainly looked impressive as he tied Jack Nicklaus for the second-most career wins in PGA Tour history, especially with that downright filthy birdie on the 16th hole from 50 feet out. A shot Nicklaus himself told USA Today's Steve DiMeglio was the "most unbelievably, gutsy shot [he'd] ever seen."

The moments of brilliance have been there during Woods' less-than-stellar recent years, but none of his past victories since his fall from grace have brought him back to "the old Tiger," and neither will this one.

Woods won this year's Arnold Palmer Invitational and everyone got excited just like they surely will this time around.

After the decorated golfer won the Palmer, he finished 40th at the Masters and Players Championship, respectively. He also missed the cut at the Wells Fargo Championship.

He's now 36 years old and while that's not the same as being 36 in the world of MLB or tennis, with age comes diminishing skills.

Woods has struggled to regain his mental confidence since his off-the-green issues went public, and while every win is a step in the right direction, every month he spends regaining his old form means one more month goes by in his career.

For the record, I want to see Woods regain that dominance. I would love to see the Tiger of old reemerge from his slumber and so would the rest of the golf world, but we've seen this show before.

Stop me if this sounds familiar. Tiger wins tournament. Media and fans go crazy believing he's back to mid-2000 form. Woods proceeds to fall back into the player we've seen the past few years.

Over the last three years, Woods has just 10 top-10 finishes to his name with just one major victory in that time frame.

He's wildly inconsistent from tournament to tournament, and now he has the pressure bestowed by the media back on his shoulders as he gears up for the U.S. Open.

Winning the U.S. Open never used to be a problem for Woods, who has won the tournament three times. That being said, he hasn't won it since 2008 and didn't even participate in the event last year.

It's great to see Woods play the way he did at the Memorial and take home the trophy, but let's all take the "wait and see" approach with this victory before we start announcing his triumphant return to prominence.