The Daily Wrap-up, Round 4: Arnold Palmer Invitational
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- The clutch shots. The late charge. An electric birdie putt on the 18th hole at Bay Hill.
Yep, Tiger Woods is back.
With those familiar back-nine heroics and a putt most everyone knew he was going to make, Woods holed a 15-footer for birdie to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard for his first victory since returning from knee surgery.
Woods closed with a 3-under 67 for a one-shot victory over hard-luck Sean O'Hair, matching his largest comeback on the PGA TOUR. Woods also earned 500 FedExCup points and moved from 110th to 12th in the latest standings.
"It feels good to be back in contention, to feel the rush," Woods said. "It's been awhile, but God, it felt good."
Just like last year, when Woods made a 25-foot birdie on the final hole at Bay Hill for a one-shot victory, he delivered a high-charged celebration. Instead of slamming his cap to the ground, he turned and ran into the arms of his caddie, who lifted him off his feet.
Then came the meeting with the tournament host.
"What was it I told you last year?" Palmer said with a wide grin.
Palmer has seen enough of Woods to know what to expect. Woods won at Bay Hill for the sixth time, the third PGA TOUR event he has won at least that often.
This one was special.
Woods had not been atop the leaderboard since he won the U.S. Open in a 19-hole playoff last June. He had reconstructive surgery on his left knee a week later, and missed the next eight months.
With two indifferent results at World Golf Championships, there were questions whether he would be ready for the Masters in two weeks. Not anymore. He rallied from a five-shot deficit and delivered one crucial shot after another in fading sunlight.
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WOODS DISPELS ANY DOUBTS
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Did you really have any doubt?
We're talking Tiger Woods here. The man who has built his living legend with a highlight reel of clutch putts and dramatic finishes. The man who, with all due respect to Arnold Palmer, owns Bay Hill when the PGA TOUR comes to town.
We were running out of daylight Sunday and Woods was running out of holes. He had one last putt, though, to break that tie with Sean O'Hair, and Woods delivered another epic win that showed us that the more things change, the more they remain the same.
As the ball tracked toward the hole, Woods began to backpedal. When it dropped, that familiar fist lashed out at the cool night air in jubilation as Woods ran over to hug his caddy, Steve Williams, who lifted the game's No. 1 player completely off his feet.
"It was unbelievable drama," said Zach Johnson, who had a front-row seat in the final pairing with Woods. "... Obviously Tiger when he needs to step up, he does it. It was impressive to watch."
Woods had just won the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard with a birdie at the 72nd hole for the second straight year and the third time in his career. The win was his sixth at Bay Hill and his first victory since last year's U.S. Open.
The victory was as liberating as it was affirming.
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| Top 5 other notables at Arnold Palmer Invitational | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sunday's Best |
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The par-5 12th hole was easiest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.781.
The par-4 16th hole was toughest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.370.
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Tiger Woods sank a 15-foot, 11-inch putt for birdie on the 72nd hole to win by a single stroke. 
Tiger Woods had five birdies and the second-lowest score of the day in his come-from-behind victory. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Michael Collins offers these observations from Sunday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
Arnold Palmer stood next to the scoring trailer as Tiger Woods went in to sign his scorecard and said, "This is getting to be a habit." Believe me when I tell you the look on The King's face when the putt dropped for birdie was priceless. He looked almost like he was laughing out loud, but there was also a look like he had done it himself before. It gave me butterflies.
Even in losing to Tiger and having to watch him make a birdie putt on the 18th hole for the second year in a row, Sean O'Hair did something that put a tear in my eye. Coming off the 18th green after putting up a valiant fight against a diabolical golf course and the No. 1 player in the world, he saw his young daughter standing next to his wife and when he saw them, his expression changed from disappointment, to pure joy. The sight of his little girl smiling and coming over to hug his leg and take kisses from him made what had just happened to him exactly what it was -- not a big deal. When he came out of the scoring trailer, he told me, "I just didn't have it today. I fought as hard as I could, and even when I hit good shots, my targets were just off." We gave each other a hand slap and hug and I wished him well at Augusta. He went to his wife and children (he has a son too and one on the way) and life was still good.
Pat Perez bogeyed the 18th hole to finish at 1-under and in a tie for fourth (costing himself a ton of money), but when he came out of the scoring tent his top priority was to watch his friend Jason Gore finish. When Jason missed his birdie putt and tapped in for par, he ran over to check the computer to see where Jason finished. A top ten would get him into Houston next week. Jason finished tied for ninth. That took a bit of the sting out of his own finish. When it comes down to it, even though these guys try to beat each other on the golf course, they still root for each other to do well.
| What the top finishers said... | ||||||||||||
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FINAL-ROUND NOTEBOOK: ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL
By Mark Stevens, PGA TOUR Staff
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The final round was delayed 1 hour and 50 minutes due to weather. The final round was played in threesomes off split tees. Intervals were changed to 10-11 minutes between groups.
• Tiger Woods birdied the 72nd hole to beat Sean O'Hair by one stroke and claim his sixth Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard title.
• Woods matched his largest comeback after 54 holes (five strokes) with his victory Sunday. Woods also came back from five strokes down after 54 holes to win the 2000 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (Mark Brooks and Matt Gogel).
• Out of Woods' 66 career wins, he has now come from behind to win 19 times.
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KODAK CHALLENGE: The first-of-its-kind competition for PGA TOUR players continues at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The Kodak Challenge celebrates beautiful holes and memorable moments on the PGA TOUR. The Kodak Challenge offers $1 million to the winner. There will be one designated Kodak Challenge Hole at 24 different PGA TOUR tournaments in 2009, with this week's featured hole the 411-yard par-4 18th.
Players, who must play at least 18 of the holes during the season to be eligible, will count their lowest score relative to par on the Kodak Challenge Hole made during an official competition round. The player, with the lowest cumulative score in relation to par at the end of the challenge, wins.
• For more on the Kodak Challenge, click here.
| This week's Kodak Challenge hole | |||
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| This week at the Kodak Challenge hole | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round-by-round statistics on the par-4 18th at Bay Hill | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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