AP
Tiger roars after nailing his tournament-winning birdie on the 18th hole.
ORLANDO, Fla. -- He's back!
In only his third start since undergoing reconstructive knee surgery last June, top-ranked Tiger Woods showed he hasn't lost a step. For the second consecutive year, he buried a clutch birdie putt on the final hole to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational as darkness was falling on Sunday at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge.
The victory was the 66th of his PGA Tour career and equaled his biggest 54-hole comeback. Woods began the fourth round five strokes behind Sean O'Hair and beat him with a closing 3-under-par 67. In the 2000 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Woods also came from five strokes back in the final round to win.
Woods, who earned $1,080,000, has now won the Arnold Palmer Invitational six times. It marks the fourth PGA Tour event he has captured six times.
"It feels good to be back in contention, to feel the rush," a smiling and satisfied Woods said afterward. "It's been a while, but God, it felt good."
Woods and O'Hair went to the par-4 18th hole tied at 4-under for the tournament. Both hit good drives and reached the green in two. After O'Hair missed a lengthy birdie attempt, Woods stalked his 15-footer. Last year, he rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to edge Bart Bryant by a stroke.
As soon as Woods struck the putt Sunday, he knew it was good. With flashbulbs popping, he stepped backwards, then pumped his right fist in the air and hugged caddie Steve Williams, who lifted him off the ground.
It was a long and unforgettable day for Woods, whose last win came at the U.S. Open last June. Play was delayed one hour and 45 minutes due to heavy morning rain. That didn't deter a massive gallery from falling Woods, O'Hair and Zach Johnson.
Of course, by then, Woods had already worked out twice.
"I had a lot of time, plus I get up early," he said.
Woods began the final round at 2-under, five strokes behind O'Hair. After parring No. 1, Woods made a move by holing a three-foot birdie putt at the 210-yard par-3 second hole. He added another birdie at the 425-yard par-4 third, where he nestled his approach from 136 yards within six feet of the hole. O'Hair bogeyed, cutting his lead to two strokes.
Woods dropped a shot at the par-4 fourth. After pulling his drive into the left trees, he caught a break with an opening to the green. He tried to punch a low 5-iron from 210 yards, but the ball came up short and buried near the front lip of the bunker. Faced with an awkward stance, Woods did well to blast his bunker shot within 14 feet of the hole, but he just missed his par attempt, falling three strokes off the pace.
At the par-4 fifth, Woods gave himself a good birdie opportunity but was unable to convert from 17 feet. Then came the par-5 sixth, which is flanked by water along the left side of the hole and has given Woods problems. He double-bogeyed it Thursday and bogeyed it Saturday. This time, he found the fairway, laid up short of the green, then knocked his third shot from 119 yards just over the back of the green. Woods, who had already chipped in three times during the tournament, tried to do it again but came up just short, settling for a par.
Woods launched a beautiful tee shot at the uphill, 179-yard par-3 seventh hole, with the ball stopping six feet from the cup. Woods converted, and O'Hair three-putted for a bogey, reducing his lead to only one over Woods.
At the par-4 eighth, a hole Woods had birdied the two previous rounds, he hit a good drive, then had trouble picking the correct club due to swirling wind. Woods hit a low punch from 162 yards, but the ball flew the green and landed in thick rough. With the ball sitting down and the green running away from him, Woods hit a nice pitch five feet past the hole and saved par. It marked the 51st straight putt he made from six feet or closer in the tournament.
Woods hit a nice second shot into the par-4 ninth hole and left himself with an 18-foot birdie putt, but he just missed the putt, the ball burning the left edge of the cup. O'Hair birdied and took a two-stroke lead to the back nine.
"The whole goal today with being five back was to try and cut it to two or three at the turn," said Woods, "so I thought I accomplished my goal."
Woods shot a 2-under 33 on the front nine and used only 12 putts, one-putting six greens.
At the par-4 10th, Woods hit a 5-wood down the fairway and had only 126 yards to the hole. With wind increasing, he misjudged his second shot and wound up 48 feet past the cup. Woods' birdie putt finished four feet short of the hole, and he was able to convert, pulling within one stroke of O'Hair, who bogeyed.
Both Woods and O'Hair two-putted the par-4 11th hole. At the par-5 12th, Woods hit a poor lay-up into the right rough but powered a sand wedge 15 feet to the right of the hole. He just missed the birdie putt and remained one shot behind O'Hair.
At the short, par-4 13th, Woods split the fairway with a 5-wood and had 83 yards to the pin. He pulled his wedge 26 feet left of the pin and was disgusted with his poor play. O'Hair played a similar shot, and they both two-putted for par.
Woods missed the green with a 3-iron at the uphill, into-the-sun, par-3 14th, winding up buried in the face of the right bunker. Woods blasted out 13 feet past the hole and once again rose to the occasion, coaxing in the par putt and pumping his right fist to stay one behind O'Hair, who just missed his birdie attempt.
"Sean looked like he made his putt, and if he makes, I miss, all of a sudden there's three shots," said Woods.
"So, that was a huge putt in the whole scheme of things."
Woods finally caught O'Hair at the par-4 15th. After laying back with a fairway wood, Woods hit his second shot 25 feet below the hole and sunk the birdie putt, doing a mini right-fist pump. Both players headed to the par-4 16th tied at 5-under for the tournament.
At the par-4 16th, Woods pushed his drive into the right rough and drew a horrible lie. Just before he played, O'Hair knocked his second shot into the greenside water hazard. Either way, Woods had no choice but to lay up and he did, leaving 95 yards to the green. Woods and caddie Williams discussed their options and decided to hit a soft pitching wedge toward the right side of the green and hope it released off a slope toward the hole. Woods executed the shot perfectly, the ball finishing three feet from the cup. Woods made the great par-saving putt, and O'Hair bogeyed, giving Woods his first lead of the tournament.
With two difficult holes remaining, Woods chose a 4-iron at the 206-yard, par-3 17th and thought he hit it perfectly. However, a gust of wind knocked the ball down, and it buried under the lip of the right bunker -- the third time during the round. Woods had another awkward stance and was forced to stand with his left foot out of the bunker. He did well to explode the ball 18 feet past the hole. Woods missed, O'Hair two-putted for a par and they went to the 18th hole tied.
"When I hit that 4-iron on 17, I hit it perfect," he said. "I flushed it, and obviously it didn't carry."
Both players drove in the fairway. O'Hair played his second shot first and found the green, while Woods knocked it inside him. After O'Hair putted down close to the hole, Woods stalked his putt and delivered once again, getting a hug from Palmer as he left the green.
"It feels great," said Woods. "As I look back at my three tournaments I've played this year, I've gotten better at each one, and that was the whole idea was to keep progressing to Augusta. I was hoping I could get my game where I could feel hitting shots again, because I'd only been on the range and putting at home. It feels good to be back, to feel the heat on the back nine on Sunday like that. To have to make a putt at 14 and to make that putt, those are the good times."