DUBLIN, Ohio — Tiger Woods was at his best Sunday at the Memorial Tournament. He hit nearly every shot the way he wanted, worked the gallery into a frenzy with one last charge over the final hour and left fans — especially Jack Nicklaus — buzzing with a shot that will be talked about for years.

Better yet was the timing of his 73rd victory.

Woods tied Nicklaus for career PGA Tour victories at the tournament Jack built and hosts; they share second place behind Sam Snead, who won 82. And 14-time major champion Woods suddenly looks equipped to resume his chase of another Nicklaus statistic that is more significant — a record 18 major championships.

The U.S. Open starts June 14 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.

With a chip-in Woods called one of the toughest shots he has made, he birdied three of his last four holes to close with a 5-under-par 67 and turn a two-shot deficit into a two-shot victory over Rory Sabbatini (72) and fast-closing Andres Romero (67).

Woods, who has won the Memorial five times, finished with a 9-under 279 total and earned $1.116 million.

"I never really missed a shot today," he said.

After a two-putt birdie on No. 15, Woods hit an 8-iron shot over the green at the par-3 16th and into a seemingly impossible lie. It was buried in deep rough, the pin 50 feet away along a ridge. Woods hit a full flop shot, hopeful to give himself a reasonable par putt.

No one, including Woods, was thinking birdie — until his ecstatic uppercut when the ball dropped.

Nicklaus, in the broadcast booth, said, "The most unbelievable, gutsy shot I've ever seen."

At 36, Woods is 10 years younger than Nicklaus when the Golden Bear won his 73rd tournament at the 1986 Masters.

Woods had struggled since his previous victory, in March at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Ryan Moore (78) of Puyallup tied for 38th place at 4 over and Seattle native Fred Couples (71) tied for 50th place at 6 over.

Other tournaments

• Jay Haas shot a 5-under 66 to win the Principal Charity Classic, an event on the 50-and-older Champions Tour, by five strokes at Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa.

Kirk Triplett, a graduate of Pullman High School, closed with a course-record 62 and tied Larry Mize (68) for second.

Triplett had nine birdies and no bogeys.

Haas, 58, had a 16-under 197 total for 54 holes and earned $262,500.

• Stacy Lewis closed with an even-par 71 to take the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway, N.J., by four strokes over Katherine Hull (68). Lewis, 27, had a 12-under 201 total for 54 holes and earned $225,000.

Ex-Washington Huskies player Paige Mackenzie (78) of Yakima tied for 76th place at 8 over.

• James Hahn beat Scott Parel on the second hole of a playoff to take the Rex Hospital Open, a Nationwide Tour event in Raleigh, N.C.

• Texas won its third NCAA men's title, edging Alabama 3-2 at Riviera in Los Angeles. On the 18th hole of the final match, Texas senior Dylan Frittelli made a 20-foot birdie putt to defeat Cory Whitsett.