Woods dispels any doubts that he's all the way back

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Tiger Woods greeted tournament host Arnold Palmer after a victory at Bay Hill for a remarkable sixth time on Sunday.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Did you really have any doubt?

Inside the Numbers

Woods' Final Stats

Category Total Rank Eagles 0 N/A Birdies 16 T1 Pars 46 T36 Bogeys 9 T65 Double Bogeys 1 T33 Other 0 N/A Driving Accuracy 60.7% T51 Driving Distance 283.6 yds. T23 Greens in Regulation 54.2% T50 Putts per Round 25.3 1 Putts per GIR 1.692 2 Sand Saves 66.7% T13

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.

"It feels great to be in contention again, to feel the heat on the back nine," Woods said. "And then obviously the big bonus is to win a golf tournament. It's always nice to win a tournament pre-Augusta, and I was able to do that again this year."

In the 286 days since that mesmerizing playoff victory at Torrey Pines, Woods had undergone reconstructive surgery on the ACL in his left knee, as well as rehabilitated two stress fractures. He hit the weight room even when his leg was weary. He grinded and gritted his teeth when he couldn't play.

Woods didn't start hitting all the clubs in his bag until January, and he admits that to imagine a win this soon back would have seemed a stretch. But he'd improved in each of his two previous starts this year and Sunday he just let himself play.

"It's like Stevie was saying, this feels like we hadn't left," Woods said flashing that megawatt smile of his.

Oh, but Woods did leave, and with him gone, there was a void.

Others stepped up, to be sure. Padraig Harrington ruled the other two majors. Phil Mickelson climbed to No. 2 in the world and -- until Sunday -- had threatened to dethrone the heir apparent to the King and the Bear.

What could be a future changing of the guard came into the picture, too, as teenagers like Rory McIlroy and Ryo Ishikawa who grew up idolizing Woods made their presence known on the world stage.

Remember, though, the more things change, the more they remain the same. That's what the man with the surgically repaired knee, the man who can swing pain-free now for the first time in years, showed us with his win on Sunday.

Woods got what NBC's Johnny Miller called that "predatory" face as he got closer and closer to the victory. Clubs flew, as did a few choice words, as Woods overcame buried lies in bunkers and made up a five-stroke deficit for the second time in his career.

The putt he made at the 18th hole a year ago on Sunday to beat Bart Bryant was longer, and Woods even allowed a bit more difficult, than the 16-footer he rolled in on O'Hair. Hard to imagine many more satisfying, though, given the events of the last eight months.

"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," Woods said. "I was hoping I could get my game where I could feel hitting shots again because I'd been only on the range and putting at home.

"Doral was great for that because I got better each and every day with my feel, and this week I came right out of the gate. ... 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 (to save par) and to make that putt, those are good times."

Good times, indeed. Woods met with the media Sunday evening wearing the navy blazer indicative of victory at Bay Hill. He's clearly established himself as one of the favorites -- if there was any doubt -- to earn what would be his fifth Green Jacket at the Masters in two weeks.

"It does (help) a lot, because it's a validation of what I've been working on from the physical standpoint of all my lifting and preparing physically but also the work I've been doing with Hank and getting all of that organized," Woods said.

"Certainly this win definitely validates all the things I've been trying to do."