Tiger Woods is No. 1 in the world again. That quivering you hear is the rest of the PGA Tour.
Woods ultimately measures his position by winning major championships, but considering where he had fallen (No. 58), to ascend to the top spot in the World Golf Rankings, overtaking Rory McIlroy two weeks before the Masters at Augusta National, he sends a resounding message.
Taking Arnold Palmer’s tournament at Bay Hill for a record eighth time with spectacular putting and tremendous iron play was reminiscent of how Woods played the last time he was No. 1 in the world — October 2010.
“This is a byproduct of hard work and patience,” Woods said.
He’s also seemingly healthy for the first time in years and able to execute all the vast shots in his bag without complication. As for the pundits doubting he is truly “back” until he wins a major championship, Woods said, “That’s their opinion. I’m very pleased with the way I am playing. That’s enough of that.”
He had more than enough to conquer the strong field at Bay Hill. Torrential rain postponed much of the final round until Monday, and Woods was just as sharp as he had been the previous three days. Paired with 24-year-old Rickey Fowler, Woods never gave up the three-shot lead entering the day.
Fowler made a nice account of himself for a while. He fell five back at one point, but made back-to-back birdies on long putts on Nos. 13 and 14 and, combined with a Woods bogey, pulled to within just two shots going to the par 5 No. 16.
It looked like it could get even tighter when he piped a drive down the center of the fairway and Woods’ tee shot landed in the fairway bunker–the same place he was on Friday when his second shot into the water in front of the green and made bogey.
Fowler went first, and hit a towering second shot at the flag, but short. The ball landed on the bank in front of the green and rolled back into the water — a crushing error. Woods could have laid up, but instead rifled a shot out of the bunker, over a tree and into the heart of the green.
Meanwhile, Fowler’s lay-up from 80 yards went directly into the water, increasing his angst and taking him out of the tournament. He went on to make a triple-bogey 8 and finished tied for third behind Justin Rose.
Woods went on to two-putt for birdie on 16, made par on 17 and, with a three-shot lead, took the careful approach and closed with a bogey to win by two shots.
He now has six wins in his last 30 events, three this year. With the Masters in two weeks at Augusta National, Woods’ confidence has to be in the stratosphere. And that is not good news for the rest of the golfing world.
