Woods birdies 18 to win Arnold Palmer

Mar 17, 2008 - 1:51 AM By Andrew Both PA SportsTicker Golf Writer

ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) -- The King watched Tiger Woods etch another chapter in an astonishing career on Sunday.

With the tournament host among the overflowing gallery at the 18th hole, Woods curled in an unlikely 24-foot birdie to claim an exciting one-stroke victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

It was the only putt Woods holed from outside 20 feet all week, but nobody, least of all Palmer, was at all surprised that Woods rose to the occasion when it really mattered. The King just grinned and nodded his approval as Woods extended his six-month winning streak to six official tournaments - five on the PGA Tour, plus the European Tour's Dubai Desert Classic.

Woods' first priority was to lag his downhill, breaking putt to tap-in distance, but the longer he thought about it, the more he wanted to make it.

"I kept telling myself, 'I've done this before and I can do it again'," Woods said. "I was just trying to make sure I got the speed right. I felt good over the putt. I hit the putt down there and it took forever to start breaking, but once it started, it went straight right and in the hole."

And as quick as that Woods had posted his 64th career victory on the PGA Tour, tying Ben Hogan for third on the all-time list. Only Jack Nicklaus (73) and Sam Snead (82) are ahead of him and not for long the way Woods is playing.

This was a more hard-fought victory than most recently, coming after a slow start, a seven-stroke halfway deficit and a tight battle down the stretch with Bart Bryant.

But Woods did what he had to do, shooting a final round 66 to finish at 10-under-par 270, one stroke ahead of Bryant (67), with Cliff Kresge (67), Vijay Singh (69) and Sean O'Hair (69) another two strokes behind.

Woods, who collected $1,044,000 for his fifth title at Bay Hill, will savor his latest victory more than most, although he is reluctant to compare.

"I don't know where it ranks," he said. "It was great to make the putt, but I was so excited with the 5-iron I hit in there to give myself a putt at it.

"You have to understand I had not hit the ball well the last three days, and then to have that shot with everything on the line, and to hit a shot and give myself a putt at it, I was so fired up."

Bryant, who watched Woods' winning putt after finishing in the previous pairing, was obviously disappointed.

"What are you going to do?" he said. "I was pretty hopeless sitting there in the trailer, but I did what I thought I was supposed to do, which was put the pressure back on Tiger to make the play. He has a habit of making it when he needs to."

At least Bryant made it a contest, pulling level with a short birdie at the 15th before parring in to keep Woods honest.

Earlier, Woods and Bryant started the final round part of a five-way tie for the lead, and Woods took little time to stamp his authority, taking over first with a birdie at the par-3 second.

He added two more birdies on the front nine and led at the turn, only to miss an inexplicably short putt of little more than two feet at the 10th for a bogey that dropped him back into a tie with Bryant.

"I got too fixated on the line (with my first putt) and blocked the next one," he said. "I kept yelling at myself going to the next tee. It was just a bad mistake."

Woods will attempt to extend his winning streak at the World Golf Championships event in Miami starting on Thursday. Whether he wins there or not, he will go to next month's Masters perhaps the hottest favorite ever with a Grand Slam looking less impossible with every passing day.