Red Shirt Sunday Tiger is Back

Tiger Woods walked toward the 18th green Sunday as he had done over the last 30 months on the PGA TOUR, with one big difference. There was no mistaking that smile.

"Pure joy," he said.

Woods finally brought the buzz back to the very thing that made him famous -- winning.

Two weeks after another injury scare, Woods looked dominant as ever in that bright red shirt to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. It was his first PGA TOUR victory since an incident at the end of 2009 led to one of the greatest downfalls in sports.

And with the Masters only two weeks away, Woods looks more capable than ever of resuming his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus in the majors.

Woods closed with a 2-under 70 and won by five shots over Graeme McDowell,earning 500 FedExCup points and moving to No. 7 in the process.

"I think he really just kind of nailed home his comeback," McDowell said. "Great to have a front-row seat watching maybe the greatest of all time doing what he does best -- winning golf tournaments."

Woods had gone 923 days and 27 TOUR events since he last posed with a trophy, and it showed.

Kneeling to look at his line as he waited his turn to putt on the 18th, Woods tapped his putter on the ground and could barely contain a grin, knowing that the longest PGA TOUR drought of his career was about to end. When he tapped in for par, he clenched his fist, screamed out, "Yeah!" and hugged his caddie, Joe LaCava.

Walking off the green, Woods extended his black cap for a sweeping wave toward the gallery.

"It's not like winning a major championship or anything," Woods said. "But it certainly feels really good."

The question two weeks ago was when he could play again. Now, it's whether he can get back to being the player who once ruled golf. It was the 16th time in his career that Woods has won by at least five shots, and it was the largest margin of victory on the PGA TOUR since Rory McIlroy won the U.S. Open by eight.

Woods downplayed the significance of Sunday, pointing out on more than one occasion that he considers it his second win since 2009. He counts the Chevron World Challenge last December, when he went birdie-birdie to beat an 18-man field of top-50 players.

But this was significant -- a PGA TOUR event with a full field, and a strong field at that. And with a performance so clean that he was never seriously challenged on the back nine.

"I've gotten better, and that's the main thing," Woods said. "I've been close for a number of tournaments now. And it was just a matter of staying the course and staying patient, keeping working on fine-tuning what we're doing. And here we are."

The only thing missing was the host himself.

Palmer's blood pressure increased during the final round from new medications, and he was taken to the hospital about 15 minutes before the tournament ended as a precaution. Alaistair Johnston, vice chairman at IMG and his longtime business manager, said Palmer would be kept overnight. "Nobody is overly concerned," he said.

Woods goes to No. 6 in the world, returning to the top 10 for the first time since May 22.

"Heading home now and I can't stop smiling. Thanks to Otown fans and everyone watching for all the love. Get well soon, Arnie," Woods tweeted about three hours after his win.

He finished at 13-under 275 for his 72nd PGA TOUR win, one short of Nicklaus for second place on the career list. But that's not the record Woods wants. He has 14 majors, four short of the Nicklaus standard, and he tries to end a four-year drought at the Masters, which starts April 5.

"I am excited, no doubt," Woods said. "I'm looking forward to the momentum I've built here."

It was the first time Woods had all four rounds under par since he returned from his personal crisis at the 2010 Masters.

McDowell made a 45-foot birdie putt and a 50-foot eagle putt early in the round to try to stay close, though he was never closer than two shots after starting with a double bogey. He closed with a 74.

Ernie Els failed in his bid to get into the Masters. The three-time major champion started the final round three shots behind, but twice missed par putts inside 3 feet and shot 75. He would have needed a two-way tie for second to crack the top 50 in the world. Instead, he tied for fourth and moved up only four spots to No. 58. He will have to win the Shell Houston Open next week to avoid missing the Masters for the first time since 1993.

This day belonged to Woods, as it used to at Arnie's place.

Only two weeks ago, Woods was taken off the course at TPC Blue Monster in the middle of the final round with tightness in his left Achilles tendon, the same injury that caused him to miss three months last year, including two majors. It turned out to be a mild strain, and Sunday was the eighth straight day that Woods played golf -- starting with a practice round last Sunday at Augusta.

LaCava called him that Sunday night at Doral, after Woods had spoken to doctors, and said "you could hear the relief."

Injuries have been the story for Woods in recent months but the win at Bay Hill, his record seventh in the event, puts the chatter back on golf.

"He was a man on a mission today," LaCava said. "He was pretty jacked up. He was out there to prove himself."

Woods won against a full field for the first time since the Australian Masters on Nov. 15, 2009. He has not been the same since then, and players began to wonder if his mystique could ever return.

This was a step. A big step.

Woods renewed his reputation as golf's greatest closer, winning for the 38th time in 40 attempts when he had the lead going into the final round.

It was McDowell who took down Woods in a shocker at the end of 2010 by rallying from four shots down to beat him at the Chevron World Challenge, something long considered unthinkable. And it was McDowell, speaking for so many others on TOUR, who suggested last August that the red shirt on Sunday was not as intimidating as once was.

McDowell was as formidable as ever. He couldn't keep up.

The former U.S. Open champion gave Woods a big cushion on the opening hole when his approach buried so badly in the bunker that only the top half of the ball could be seen. He blasted out through the green into another bunker and made double bogey. That gave Woods a three-shot lead, and McDowell never got closer than two the rest of the way.

But he put up a good fight. McDowell took a free drop from a sprinkler head, going from the rough to the fringe, and holed a 45-foot birdie putt after Woods was already in tight for birdie.

Woods hit a towering 3-iron from 267 yards over the water on the par-5 sixth, and before he could attempt his eagle putt from just outside 15 feet, McDowell made his from 50 feet.

Woods was in total control of all aspects of his game, the final two holes of the front nine showed it. Woods hit an 8-iron from 182 yards that cleared the bank by a few yards and rolled within 4 feet for birdie on No. 8. And on the next hole, McDowell missed a 4-foot par putt to fall four shots behind.

McDowell missed three putts inside 10 feet early on the back nine -- one of them for par -- and then was merely along for the ride.

"He's going to be a force at Augusta," said Ian Poulter, who shot 74 and finished third.

Tiger Returns to Familiar Territory

Tiger Woods a comfortable lead Saturday, he walked off the 18th green at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard as close as he has ever been to ending 30 months without a PGA TOUR victory.

He had a one-shot lead, and no one in golf has a more formidable record as a frontrunner.

He was hitting the ball so well that Woods had the putter in his hand for a birdie attempt on 38 consecutive holes.

And he was at Bay Hill, where he already has won six times.

"If you're in the lead, you've done some good things," Woods said after recovering from a late double bogey for a 1-under 71. "That's how I've always looked at it. And it's a nice position to be in."

Better yet would be posing with Palmer in a trophy presentation.

But there's still one round to go before that happens, and a familiar face alongside him in the final group.

Graeme McDowell, the former U.S. Open champion who rallied from four shots behind to beat Woods in the Chevron World Challenge at the end of 2010, made two birdies and one bogey in a round of 71.

"There's a fair bit of expectations on Tiger," McDowell said. "He's looking to complete the comeback tomorrow, because there's no doubt he's playing great. He's got the ball under control. But he's got to go out there and try to win tomorrow, the same way I do and a lot of other players that have got the opportunity to win."

It will be the 40th time Woods has taken the lead into the final round on the PGA TOUR. He has failed to win just twice, one of those times as a 20-year-old in his third start as a pro.

Woods was more interested in winning for the 72nd time on TOUR than the 30 months it has taken to get to this point.

"I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'm looking forward to getting out there and playing and competing again," Woods said. "As far as what it would mean? It would mean No. 72. Not a bad number, either."

Woods last won a PGA TOUR event at the BMW Championship on Sept. 13, 2009. He won in Australia two months later to close out his season, but his life changed forever a short time later in perhaps the most spectacular downfall of any athlete.

That all seems to be such a distant memory, even two weeks ago when he withdrew in the middle of the final round at TPC Blue Monster with tightness in his left Achilles tendon.

Woods cut a more familiar figure Saturday.

"It was a solid day," said Woods, who was at 11-under 205. "Just happened to have one little fluke thing where a kid passed out."

He had a four-shot lead after a birdie on the 13th hole when he made what he called his one bad swing, pulling his tee shot into a buried lie in the bunker on the 14th for a bogey.

On the 15th tee, an 18-year-old passed out and a woman screamed when she saw it -- all while Woods was in the middle of his swing. He was too far along to stop, and hooked his tee shot out-of-bounds near a swimming pool.

That led to a double bogey, and McDowell tied him for the lead with his birdie on the 17th. Woods, however, hit a daring shot out of the fairway bunker and over the water to 20 feet for a two-putt birdie on the 16th to regain the lead.

Woods was runner-up at the Honda Classic three weeks ago when he closed with a 62, though he never had the outright lead. He was in the second-to-last group at Pebble Beach, though he closed with a 75 and watched Phil Mickelson rally for the win.

He will be alongside McDowell, who last August was asked whether Woods' mystique had eroded. Woods had not played for three months because of leg injuries, and McDowell was asked if that red shirt meant anything.

"That's his trademark," McDowell said. "Really, I think that's all it is right now. What it means to him is obviously a different thing. What it means to the rest of us ... it's not really something to be intimidated by anymore."

McDowell is aware how well Woods is playing, and how dominant Woods can be in the game. His focus was on a Bay Hill course that was dry, firm and reminiscent of some U.S. Open setups.

"The golf course is going to be the main competitor tomorrow," McDowell said.

Ernie Els rekindled his hopes of getting into the Masters with six birdies in a round of 67 that left him only three shots behind. Ian Poulter had a 68 and also was tied for third, while Charles Howell III (68) and Sony Open winner Johnson Wagner (69) were four behind.

Els is No. 62 in the world and needs to crack the top 50 after Sunday to get an invitation to Augusta. He could get there by finishing alone in third place -- provided Matteo Manassero doesn't win in Morocco on the European Tour, or Howell doesn't finish alone in second place at Bay Hill.

It gets complicated with the world ranking, even without a calculator. Els hasn't even bothered to do the math.

"I know I've got to finish ... really, almost winning. I've got to almost win, or something like that," Els said. "But if I'm in, I'm in. And if I'm not, I'm just glad my game is coming around. Whatever happens, I feel like I can have a good year now. I feel like the hard work is starting to pay off."

Els rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole for a 32 on the front, getting him into the picture. His lone lapse came on the 15th, and he did well to escape with bogey. His ball was sitting slightly down in a fairway bunker, and Els hit the lip with his approach, the ball coming back into the sand. He blasted the next out onto the green and two-putted.

But he birdied the 16th, got up-and-down from a front bunker on the 17th, and knocked in a 15-foot birdie on the 18th. Even then, he was five shots behind against Woods, his longtime nemesis and a six-time at Bay Hill.

"I don't want to talk too badly about Tiger, but hope he makes a couple of bogeys and I have a bit of a chance tomorrow," Els said.

He laughed -- and he got his wish.

Charlie Wi was tied with Woods for the 36-hole lead, but not for long. He started off pushing his shots to the right, made three bogeys out of the gate and fell back. Wi wound up with a 76 and was five shots behind.

He wasn't the only one.

Jason Dufner, who turned 35 on Saturday, had a birthday to forget. After driving into the water on the par-5 sixth and making double bogey, he followed with three straight bogeys for a 42 on the front nine. He shot 77.

Bubba Watson was hanging around until he three-putted from just outside 3 feet for double bogey on the 11th. Doral winner Justin Rose twice made bogey on par 5s in a 74. Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia each shot 75.

McDowell was the only player who never left the lead pack, even though he made only two birdies. He got some help from Woods in the final hour, however, and now gets another shot at him.

"The atmosphere is going to be fantastic out there tomorrow, due to him being in the mix," McDowell said.

2012 Bay Hill Leaderboard

Woods Joins Wi at Arnold Palmer

Tiger Woods rarely made it look this easy at Bay Hill yet he putted for birdie on every hole.

His longest putt for par was on the 18th, when his birdie try caught the right edge of the cup and left him about 3 feet coming back.

If the game looked familiar, so did his position Friday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

Woods ran off four straight birdies early in his round, then made back-to-back birdies late in the afternoon for a 7-under 65, giving him a share of the lead with Charlie Wi. It was the first time in 30 months on the PGA TOUR that Woods has been atop the leaderboard going into the weekend.

"It was a solid round of golf," Woods said. "I felt like I actually hit it better yesterday than I did today. I've made more putts today, for sure. I felt great over the putter. My speed was good. I left a couple putts dead short, right in the center of the hole. Actually, it really could have been a really low round. A lot of positives today."

Wi, the 54-hole leader at Pebble Beach this year, rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on his last hole for a 68 to join Woods at 10-under 134.

Former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell had an eagle-par-birdie finish for a 63, while Jason Dufner continued his solid play on the Florida swing with a 69. They were one shot behind at 135.

Woods last had the 36-hole lead in any tour event at the Australian Open in November, and he tied for third. On the PGA TOUR, go all the way back to the Tour Championship in September 2009 to find the last time he was atop the leaderboard going into the weekend.

It looks even more ominous at Bay Hill, where Woods is a six-time winner.

"I want to win. Yes, absolutely," he said. "We've got a long way to go. It's not like it's over right now. We've got 36 holes to go."

Woods at least is in better shape than he was two weeks ago. His future looked as muddled as ever when Woods was taken off the golf course in a cart at TPC Blue Monster because of soreness and swelling in his left Achilles tendon, the same injury that forced him to miss three months and two majors a year ago.

One week later, he was practicing at Augusta National. Now, he's the player everyone is chasing on the weekend.

"I saw him on television at Doral and didn't look good there," said Ernie Els, who played with Woods at Bay Hill, and played with him when Woods shot 62 on the last day of the Honda Classic. "Today he was on, and today was the same as I saw at the Honda -- very on."

Woods only had a couple of nervous moments.

He ran off four straight birdies on the front nine to quickly get into the mix, and then couldn't decide how to play his tee shot on the 10th. It didn't help that earlier in the round, he looked over at adjacent first tee and saw Nick Watney -- affectionately known as "Rube" -- pipe his tee shot out-of-bounds to the right.

"I got over there and for some reason I'm thinking, `You know, I probably really shouldn't hit this driver; I'll take something off of it, and just hit a little softy out there.' And bailed on it, because I didn't want to hit it right out-of-bounds," Woods said. "And I chalked that up to just not listening to my instincts of hitting a 3-iron down there or just chipping a 5-wood -- or not watching Ruby hit that shot."

Woods was lucky. The snap hook bounced off a net fence protecting the houses, and he had just enough room to play to the middle of the 10th green and walk away with par.

He also was disgusted with his approach to the par-5 16th, turning in anger and swiping at the ground. It wasn't a great shot, but it was dry, catching the left side of the green 50 feet away and setting up a two-putt birdie.

Woods also had a two-putt birdie at the par-5 sixth. He made birdies on the other par 5s with his wedge game. Over two rounds, he has had such improved control of his play that he hit 19 consecutive greens in regulation at one point. That streak ended on the 13th hole Friday, when he two-putted for par from on the fringe.

Some of that is familiarity.

"I've had a few places where I've felt comfortable and I've played well, and this is one of them," Woods said. "For some reason, I just understand how to play it."

And some of that is becoming more confident with his swing, especially how far he is hitting the ball. Woods said he was not hitting his irons as well before going to work with Sean Foley, and a straighter, tighter ball flight has led to more distance -- and more adjustments.

He felt as though he hit the ball better on Thursday in a round of 69, although he didn't have nearly as many birdie chances.

"My bad days are not as bad as they used to be," Woods said.

It was the fifth time Woods had had at least a share of the 36-hole lead at Bay Hill, and he has failed to win only once from that position. Woods served up several reminders that the tournament is only halfway over, along with gentle rebukes that it hasn't been that long that he's been in the hunt.

He was tied for the 54-hole lead at Abu Dhabi, finishing third behind Robert Rock. Woods played well at the Australian Open until a poor third round. As for winning, he counts that birdie-birdie finish to win the Chevron World Challenge, which counted toward the world ranking even though it featured an 18-man field from the top 50 in the world.

"So it really has not been as long as people might think it has been," Woods said. "I'm comfortable up there, and I feel like I'm playing well. We've still got a long way to go. We still have 36 holes to go. Still need to continue doing what I'm doing out there, just kind of plodding my way along."

Wi, who shared the 18-hole lead with Dufner, birdied four of his last six holes to catch up to Woods. From the right rough on the ninth hole, he hammered out a shot to 25 feet below the cup for one last birdie.

Wi and Woods grew up in southern California and have known each other since their junior days, though Wi is four years older.

"Tiger is the man, and it's going to be fun tomorrow," Wi said.

The best round came from McDowell, and it was a reminder of how far he has come in one year. McDowell had a dream season in 2010 by winning the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, winning the decisive point for Europe in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, then ending the year with a record comeback against Woods in the Chevron World Challenge.

McDowell had a hard time managing his time, much less his expectations, and the eye-opener was at Bay Hill last year when he shot 80.

This time, McDowell was 17 shots better.

"That 80 was a wake-up call, but I didn't wake up for another four months or so," McDowell said. "It was more of the panic button. It was a pretty awful four or five months for me.

"But like I say, I feel like you learn more from those types of experiences than you do from shooting 63 at Bay Hill. There's not much to learn out there except that if you play great and hole some putts, you can go low."

That's just what he did.

Dufner set the early pace and was the first to reach 10 under until going for the green on the par-5 sixth, misjudging the wind and going into the water to make bogey. Even so, it was another solid round in Florida. Dufner had the lead going into the weekend at Innisbrook, and now he is one shot behind at Bay Hill.

"I think any given day, I can go out and shoot 5 or 6 under, do it pretty comfortably," Dufner said. "If the putter were to get hot, I feel like I could shoot some lower scores. There has not been a lot of stressful situations that last two or three weeks."

The stress might pick up Saturday. Woods brings energy to the course when he's around the lead, especially at Bay Hill, and especially when it's been so long since he has won on the PGA TOUR. He has gone 27 PGA TOUR events without a trophy.

2012 Bay Hill Leaderboard 

Wi Joins Dufner in Bay Hill Lead

Charlie Wi felt a lot better walking off the golf course compared to his last round.

So did Tiger Woods.

Coming off a final round at Innisbrook in which he made a 13 on one hole, Wi hit an 8-iron over the water to 6 feet for birdie on the 18th for a 6-under 66, giving him a share of the lead with Jason Dufner in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

It's the fourth time Dufner has been atop the leaderboard after a round during the Florida swing -- except that none of those rounds have been on Sunday.

The last time Woods was seen on the PGA TOUR, he was being driven away in a golf cart after withdrawing in the middle of the final round at TPC Blue Monster with soreness and swelling in his left Achilles tendon.

Woods, a six-time champion at Bay Hill, shot a 69 without breaking a sweat, much less breaking any body parts. There was nothing particularly special about this round, except for a 30-foot birdie putt that swirled around the cup at the 15th, and a couple of three-putt bogeys that kept his score from being lower.

"I didn't really do anything great today," said Woods, who had only two approach shots inside 15 feet on the par 3s and par 4s. "I was just solid all day. I drove the ball well, hit my irons decent and putted all right. It's just one of those days where not a lot was going on."

Maybe not in his group.

Behind him, though, it was a different story.

Phil Mickelson was all over the place, going from a bunker to a magnolia tree on his way to an unlikely par; hitting a tee shot out of bounds for double bogey; hitting into the water for another double bogey; and somehow escaping with a 73.

In the group behind Mickelson, Anthony Kim made only two pars on the back nine for a 32 that shot him up the leaderboard. Kim followed two birdies with two bogeys, made two more birdies and then hit 5-iron on the 17th hole for an ace. He was leading until a pair of bogeys on the back nine gave him a 69, a good start for a guy who has been in the tank most of the year.

"I've been running my head into a brick wall," Kim said. "So I moved away from the brick wall, and now I can swing and make some birdies out here."

Nick Watney was on the opposite side of the course, and not as many people saw his 68. He was pleased to see some putts go in, which has contributed to his slow start this year.

"I putted really well and it's nice to do that because that's been my Achilles this year," Watney said.

Woods' Achilles also used to be his putting, until it actually became his Achilles tendon.

This is Woods' last tournament before the Masters, where he has not won since 2005. It's part of eight straight days of golf, which began Sunday with a scouting trip to Augusta National, and there has been concern that his Achilles tendon might flare up again. Woods said he has no way of knowing if it will tighten up on him as it did at Doral, though he said he has dealt with tightness before and it didn't linger.

Whatever the case, he wasn't worried about it on a sunny Thursday morning in his former town.

"I'm just out there playing," he said. "I'm feeling good. I've been getting treatment. Everything's good. No swelling. If I can just keep it that way, everything will be great."

Justin Rose and Sean O'Hair also were at 69, while Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III and Bud Cauley were in the group at 68. Ernie Els, who might need to win to get into the Masters, played with Woods and shot 71.

Wi has been making news for all the wrong reasons this year. He had a three-shot lead going into the final round at Pebble Beach and four-putted the opening hole for double bogey, eventually finishing second.

Last week at the Transitions Championship was more comedy than tragedy. He already was toward the bottom of the leaderboard in the final round when he tried to hit a shot through a gap in the trees, and three times saw his ball hit the tree and carom out of bounds onto the practice range. He wound up with a 13 and shot 78, and didn't give it much thought except when asked about it.

"That was just a blip on the radar screen," Wi said. "Actually, I figured I should have gone for some TOUR record so at least I could be remembered."

He doesn't have many good memories of Bay Hill -- he withdrew one year, missed the cut two other times and tied for 24th last year, with a 66 in the third round. So at least he's making progress.

Kim started the year at No. 78 in the world and wanted to play his way into the top 50 so he could qualify for the Masters. Instead, he has gone the other way in a hurry -- four missed cuts, a disqualification, and a tie for 42nd at The Honda Classic. He has fallen to No. 120 in the world, surprising for a guy considered one of the rising Americans just four years ago at the Ryder Cup.

"I'm doing all the right things to get me closer to playing," Kim said. "Getting the ball in the hole is not an issue. Getting the ball off the tee the last two years has been a struggle. I know I can get the ball in the hole. I just have to get the ball in the fairway."

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