I said yesterday that we were in for some great golf today at The Memorial Tournament and boy was I right. As I said after the Masters, If you didn't enjoy that you don't like golf. Ernie Els shot 66, 66 on the Weekend to win the Memorial by four strokes. A charging Fred Couples holing shots from all over and a lurking Tiger Woods made no difference as Els was simply to good for the field.

Tiger charged to a tie for the lead with three birdies on the front nine but couldn't get anything going on the back nice and coasted to a 69 and a third place finish. It looked like it was all going to come unraveled on the fourteenth whole when Woods' drive and recovery shot went errant. But he hit an unbelievable flop shot from off the green that rolled in for a par to keep his round going. But pars on the par fives prevented any real momentum.

Fred Couples put together three birdies on the back nine, including a beautiful put from off the green on 17 where he holed a 70 yard chip yesterday, to keep Els honest. Four straight rounds in the sixties usually wins a golf tournament but every time it looked as if Els might slip he responded and pulled away. Huge birdie put on 13, key par puts when he needed them and then to pull away he birdies the final two holes. With this course and this field in was an impressive performance. This US Open winner has to feel good heading to Shinnecock Hills for the US Open.

Tiger has another top five finish. He might be a little disappointed he didn't put more pressure on Els but, given his swing struggles of late, he has to be happy with hitting fairways and giving himself a chance to win. If he can keep improving his game - he looked a little wobbly during the middle of the back nine - he could return to top form just in time for a major. Plus, with Vijay Singh shooting four rounds in the 70's and finishing 24th Tiger retains a solid hold on the number one spot in the world. Els should move up the money list and reinforce his place as a real challenger to Woods.

Justin Rose hung in there to finish fourth with K.J. Choi reading water to take fifth. Last year's winner Kenny Perry put on a mini charge on the back nine to shoot a 69 and give himself a top ten finish. Fifty year old Jay Haas and local boy, and British Open Winner, Ben Curtis round out the top ten with Retief Goosen and Stephen Ames.

The top ten on that leader board reveals how well Els played. It includes the number one player in the world four major winners - not including Els himself - and an awful lot of talent. Ernie took on one of the best fields of golf and a tough course and came out four strokes ahead. That is an accomplishment. Add in Jack Nickalaus as host and you have a win that Ernie Els will appreciate for a long time. This caliber of golf and basically rain free tournament means the spectators and fans watching in person and on TV got their money's worth. Like I said, if you didn't enjoy that you don't like golf. Heck, if you can't appreciate that then you don't like sports.