Tiger Woods wins Arnold Palmer Invitational

With a birdie at the final hole, Tiger Woods confirmed his return to the pinnacle of the game. As the 15-foot putt dropped, Tiger celebrated a one-shot victory over Sean O’Hair in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

Tiger Woods and Steve Williams
Fergus Bisset
By
published

With a birdie at the final hole, Tiger Woods confirmed his return to the pinnacle of the game. As the 15-foot putt dropped, Tiger celebrated a one-shot victory over Sean O’Hair in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

Soren Kjeldsen wins Open de Andalucia

It was Woods’ first victory since returning from knee surgery but it’s his sixth title at Bay Hill. With the win, he re-secured his position at the top of the Official World Golf Ranking and has leapt from 110th to 12th place on the FedEx Cup standings.

It’s the second year running that Woods has won at Bay Hill with a birdie on the closing hole, and this one was clearly special.

"It feels good to be back in contention, to feel the rush," Woods said. "It's been awhile, but God, it felt good."

It was Woods’ 66th career PGA Tour victory and kept up his record of having won a tournament in the three months leading up to the Masters in all but one year of his professional career.

It was a tough day for Sean O’Hair. He struggled to find birdies and, when he fired into the water on the 16th, Tiger was right back in the tournament. "It's just a little bit disappointing that I couldn't close it out," O'Hair said. Zach Johnson closed with a 69 to finish in third.

Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard Bay Hill Club and Lodge, Florida Mar 26-29, purse $5,800,000, par 70

1    Tiger Woods (USA)    68    69    71    67    275    $1,080,000 2    Sean O’Hair (USA)    67    65    71    73    276    $648,000 3    Zach Johnson (USA)    72    69    68    69    278    $408,000 T4    John Senden (Aus)    70    69    73    67    279    $236,250 T4    Nick Watney (USA)    67    71    73    68    279    $236,250 T4    Pat Perez (USA)        70    70    70    69    279    $236,250 T4    Scott Verplank (USA)    70    69    71    69    279    $236,250 T8    Kenny Perry (USA)    70    71    72    67    280    $174,000 T8    Daniel Chopra (Swe)    68    71    72    69    280    $174,000 T8    Jason Gore (USA)        65    70    74    71    280    $174,000

Note: Players in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only

Where next?

Soren Kjeldsen wins Open de Andalucia Golf Monthly May issue news Win a round of golf with Rory McIlroy: Competitions update The Race to Dubai story so far

 

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

Latest