Roaring comeback

ORLANDO, Florida – Back to playing golf, now Tiger Woods is back to winning tournaments.

With those familiar back-nine runs, Woods made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Sunday to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational for his first victory since returning from knee surgery.

Woods closed with a 67 for a 5-under total 275 and a one-shot victory over Sean O’Hair, who led Woods by five shots going into the final round, and matched his largest comeback ever on the PGA Tour.

It was Woods’ third tournament since returning from an eight-month layoff.

“It feels good to be back in contention, to feel the rush,” Woods said. “It’s been a while, 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 US 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.

It was the third time Woods has won at Bay Hill with a birdie on the 72nd hole.

O’Hair made only one birdie and closed with a 73, but he steadied himself along the back nine until a crucial mistake on the 16th hole, when he went at the flag with Woods in the rough. His 7-iron came up short and into the water, leading to a bogey.

“I think what happened is when the sun was going down a little bit, I guess that kind of proved to me that the ball wasn’t quite going as far,” O’Hair said.

He might be right, for Woods ran into the same problem a hole later. He posed over a 4-iron that he thought was flush, tongue hanging out of his mouth like Michael Jordan when he knew a shot was going in. This one plugged under the lip of the front bunker, and Woods made bogey to fall into a tie.

That set up the dramatic finish with only minutes of daylight remaining, thanks to a two-hour rain delay in the morning.   (AP)