DUBLIN, Ohio — There's a recognizable confidence in both his stride and his swing, and Tiger Woods knows he's playing well enough to win his first major in five years.
He's two weeks from getting his chance in the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.
The world's top-ranked golfer worked toward that goal specifically on Tuesday, playing a round at Merion. This weekend, he defends his title at the Memorial, the tournament founded and hosted by Jack Nicklaus and one that's become the Tiger Invitational. Last year's come-from-behind win at Muirfield Village was Woods' fifth.
Woods has already won four times in 2013, most recently at the Players Championship three weeks ago. He now has 78 career PGA Tour victories, four shy of Sam Snead's record of 82. Last year's Memorial win was the 73rd of Woods' career, tying Nicklaus for second-place. With 14 victories in majors, he's four shy of Nicklaus' record.
No one saw this five-year detour from winning a major coming, but it's not hard to see Woods swinging and carrying himself like he's ready to end it.
"I feel confident with the motion," Woods said Wednesday. "In all the stretches where I played well, I've felt good about what I was able to do. Even with some of the misses...I was able to fix it on the fly."
Woods said his Tuesday visit to Merion will be his last until just before the U.S. Open begins on June 13. He's counting on much better weather for the rounds that count than what he encountered on Tuesday with a driving rain and high winds.
"It was raining sideways," Woods said. "It was just an ugly day. We probably played it as long as it's ever played. In June, obviously, the weather won't be like that. It will be hot. The ball will be flying."
This is the earliest Woods has won four events in a season; twice (2000 and 2001) his Memorial wins were his fourth in a year. In 2000, he went on to win the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by 15 strokes.
He's a different player now. His competition is different, too, and Merion isn't just new to Woods but will challenge him with a layout measuring a little less than 7,000 yards and a par-70 for the U.S. Open. Nicklaus said Tuesday that Woods might only get to hit driver on two or three holes.
Woods said he got a feel for "sight lines" at Merion and that he welcomes the challenge of playing a different kind of course.
"You're playing to spots," Woods said. "There are a few holes I want to reconfirm those (sight) lines. There are a few holes I'm anxious to see when it's a little bit dryer.
"You have to be disciplined to play that course."
He's playing this weekend in a comfortable spot. Woods already defended his Arnold Palmer Invitational title earlier this season, winning that tournament for the eighth time, and now comes back to Central Ohio as the hunted, not the hunter. He said he's always played well on Nicklaus-designed courses, even going back to his days as a junior golfer, and looks forward to chasing his sixth title at the Memorial.
His chip-in on the 16th hole on Sunday at last year's Memorial clinched it; Nicklaus called that "as fine a golf shot...as I've seen in a long, long time." It's seems possible — maybe even likely — that Woods is playing as well now as he has in a long time, too, and that maybe by the end of summer he'll be creeping closer to Nicklaus' major record.
Nicklaus said he and Woods have never talked much about that. And Woods was quick to deflect that talk on Wednesday, too. He seems ready for Merion and the U.S. Open, but his focus now is on defending his Memorial title.
"It's about playing well," Woods said. "It's about this weekend and winning this event."
