Memorial Tournament 2012: Golfers Who Will Ride Momentum to US Open

Many golfers will build on their Memorial Tournament success to make a run at the US Open title. 

Momentum is a dangerous attribute in golf, and although the St. Jude Classic takes place between now and the US Open, certain players will enter the storied major on a high note.

Let's take a look at who will continue to dominate the links. 

Tiger Woods

Um, duh. 

It wasn't just the fact that Woods won the Memorial, but it was how he did it. 

Woods trailed by two strokes with four holes to go and still managed to win by two shots. That's a four-stroke turnaround in four holes. His late, classic-Tiger comeback was fueled by this brilliant chip in at No. 16:

The fist pump, the passion and the dominance on the course were all there. If Woods can stay out of his own head and continue to bring that same energy that he used to bring, he clearly has the talent to be looked at as the clear favorite at the US Open.

Luke Donald

The World No. 1 entered the Memorial on a bit of a hot streak. He finished third at the Zurich Classic and then sixth at TPC.

However, he wasn't looking too great at Muirfield Village, as he sat three strokes over par and in 36th place after three rounds.

But then Donald put together an impressive four-under round on Sunday to rocket him up to 12th place. He birdied No. 11, 12, 13 and 17 to save his tournament.

If Donald can use that back nine as a springboard for US Open success, he will be very dangerous at Olympic Club.

Justin Rose

Don't look now, but the 31-year-old Rose has finished in the top 10 in three of his past four tournaments, and that includes an eighth-place finish at the Masters back in April.

Rose also finished 10th at the Zurich Classic and eighth this weekend at the Memorial. In 11 tournaments this season, Rose has yet to miss the cut, has finished in the top 25 seven times and finished in the top 10 five times.

He is playing fantastic golf right now, and his success continued at Muirfield. 

Rose will need all the momentum he can get, however, as he has failed to make it past the cut at the US Open since 2007. 

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