ORLANDO, Fla. — This one wasn’t marked with a fist pump, a cap slam or anything overly demonstrative. But it didn’t take much to read Tiger Woods’ lips.
Woods returned to the very thing that made him famous - winning.
“Pure joy,” he said.
Two weeks after another injury scare, Woods looked dominant as ever to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. It was his first PGA Tour victory since admitting to infidelity at the end of 2009 that led to one of the greatest downfalls in sports.
And with the Masters only two weeks away, Woods looks capable of resuming his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus in the majors. Woods closed with a 2-under-par 70 and won by five shots over Graeme McDowell.
“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 27 tour events since he last posed with a trophy at the BMW Championship on Sept. 13, 2009, 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 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 victory since the sex scandal.He counts the Chevron World Challenge last December, when he went birdie-birdie to beat an 18-man field of top-50 players. But Sunday was a PGA Tour event with a full field, and a strong field at that. And 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, 82, had his blood pressure increase 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.
“I know he puts his heart and soul into this event,” Woods said in a get-well wish during the trophy ceremony.
Woods goes to No. 6 in the world, returning to the top 10for the first time since May 22. He finished at 13-under 275 for his 72nd PGA Tour victory, 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 mark, 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.”
“I’ve gone into Augusta with wins and without wins,” he said. “Just hopefully everything comes together for that one week. I understand how to play Augusta National, and it’s just a matter of executing the game plan.”
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 three 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 Houston Open next week to avoid missing the Masters for the first time since 1993.
Only two weeks ago, Woods was taken off the course at Doral 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.
LaCava called Woods last Sunday night at Doral, after Woods had spoken to doctors, and said “you could hear the relief.”
The victory at Bay Hill, his record seventh in the event, puts the buzz 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 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.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Manassero misses Masters
AGADIR, Morocco - Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey won the Hassan II Trophy by three strokes, ending Italian teenager Matteo Manassero’s bid to qualify for the Masters.
Hoey shot a 7-under-par 65 Sunday to finish at 17-under 271 at Golf du Palais Royal. Ireland’s Damien McGrane shot 70 to finish second.
The 18-year-old Manassero needed to win to enter the top 50 in the world ranking to make the Masters. He entered the final round tied for the lead but shot a 72 to tie for sixth at 12-under.
NATIONWIDE TOUR
Wittenberg pulls away
BROUSSARD, La. - Casey Wittenberg won the Louisiana Open for his first Nationwide Tour title, closing with a 6-under-par 65 Sunday for an eight-stroke victory.
The 27-year-old opened with round of 66, 66 and 63 and finished at 24-under 260 at Le Triomphe Country Club.
Fabian Gomez (65), Chris Riley (67) and Paul Claxton (68) tied for second.
Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot 68 and finished tied for 18th at 11-under. Brenden Pappas (Razorbacks) shot 71 and finished tied for 36th at 8-under.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Couples wins in Mississippi
SAUCIER, Miss. - Fred Couples made an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 3-under-par 69 Sunday and a one-stroke victory over Michael Allen in the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic.
Couples finished at 14-under 202 at Fallen Oak for his seventh Champions Tour title and first of the year. He will play the PGA Tour’s Houston Open and the Masters the next two weeks.
Allen finished with a 66. Tom Pernice Jr. shot 69 to tie for third with Jeff Sluman (73) at 10-under.
LPGA TOUR
World No. 1 Tseng wins
CARLSBAD, Calif. - Top-ranked Yani Tseng won the Kia Classic for her second consecutive LPGA Tour title and third in five events this year, closing with a 2-under-par 70 Sunday for a six-stroke victory.
The 23-year-old Taiwanese player led wire-to-wire and finished at 14-under 274 on La Costa’s Legends Course.
South Korea’s Sun Young Yoo had a 71 to finish second.
Stacy Lewis (Razorbacks) shot even-par 72 and finished tied for 25th at 3-over. Stacy Prammanasudh (Conway) shot 3-over 75 and finished tied for 58th at 9-over.
Leaderboard At Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Fla.
Purse: $6 million 7,419 yards, par 72 Final round
Tiger Woods ............................69-65-71-70 - 275
Graeme McDowell ..................72-63-71-74 - 280
Ian Poulter ..............................71-69-68-74 - 282
Bud Cauley ..............................70-73-68-72 - 283
Brian Davis ..............................70-73-70-70 - 283
Ryan Moore ............................71-71-71-70 - 283
Kevin Na ..................................73-68-69-73 - 283
Johnson Wagner .....................71-69-69-74 - 283
Bubba Watson .........................69-70-72-72 - 283
Complete results, 5C
Sports, Pages 13 on 03/26/2012