Tiger Woods and Bay Hill have become synonymous on the PGA Tour.
Woods’ connection with Bay Hill is as well-known as the tie-in between Woods and the Genesis Invitational (as of 2020), the PGA Tour event which is hosted by and benefits his foundation.
Woods has played 18 times at Arnie’s Place in what is now known at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. Woods has won this event eight times and lived near Bay Hill in Windermere, Fla., for the first decade-plus of his professional career. He missed the 2019 API due to a neck strain.
Of Woods’ 80 career PGA Tour victories, 24 of them have come on three courses – Torrey Pines, Firestone and Bay Hill. Woods missed out on another potential Torrey Pines triumph in January when he finished T20 in January at the Farmers’ Insurance Open.
In 70 competitive rounds on the Championship Course, Woods has a stroke average of 68.428. His career earnings in the tournament total more than $7.66 million.
Last year, during Woods’ 2018 comeback, he showed feline flashes of his old self during the API. Woods closed in 3-under 69 to finish at 10 under and post a strong T-5 showing.
He even dropped in a 71-foot birdie putt on the par-3 seventh during the first round to fire up the already-pumped crowd.
It was the second time that Woods had finished in the top-10 at Bay Hill without winning. He was T-9 in 1997, his debut in the event as a pro. He competed in 1994 as an amateur and missed the cut; he hasn’t missed the cut since.
Here’s a look at all eight Tiger Woods victories at Bay Hill:
2000: Tiger edges Davis Love III
Tiger Woods, only 24 at the time, beat Davis Love III by four and Skip Kendall for the 18th win of his career. He finished at 18-under (270 total) and took the lead after a second-round 64. Love quickly ceded ground to Woods in the final round, falling five strokes behind after four holes. Woods went on to win by four. “I had the lead,” Woods said. “I figured I could put pressure on Davis by hitting a lot of fairways and greens. I feel pretty good about my short game right now.”
2001: Woods claims duel with Lefty
When Tiger Woods arrived at Bay Hill in March of 2001, he hadn’t won in five starts. The golf media world was abuzz with talk about a “Tiger Slump.” Well, if Woods was a in slump, he found his cure on the spacious fairways of the Bay Hill Club and Lodge. Woods held off Phil Mickelson by one in one of their many great duels in the early 2000s. Woods began the say in a battle with Sergio Garcia, but it soon turned into a tussle with Mickelson. Lefty led after Woods made bogey on the 11th. Woods would tie on 16, before he caught a huge break to win it on the 72nd hole. Woods hit a spectator with his drive. That prevented the ball from going out of bounds. He took an old-school drop from the cart path and rifled a 5-iron to 15 feet before making the birdie putt. “I got an ‘Arnold Palmer’ break,” Woods said. “I was able to get some wonderful breaks down the stretch. It was not a pretty round of golf but I got the ball in the hole. It’s always nice to win.”
2002: Woods wins 3rd-straight at Bay Hill
Tiger Woods won his third-straight Arnold Palmer Invitational with a four-shot victory over Michael Campbell. Woods earned $720,000 and finished 13-under overall at 275. Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els were among the 14 players within three shots of Woods and the lead when play began Sunday. Mickelson briefly led after a 10-foot birdie at No. 10 on Sunday. But Lefty found the water on 16 and he was finished. Woods, meanwhile, kept a steady pace throughout the final round for the win. “It was quite a fight out there,” Woods said. “I tried to hang in there and give myself a lot of looks at birdie and not make any bogeys. You need to play smart, and I was able to do that.”
2003: Woods makes it 4 straight in Orlando
Tiger Woods, then a ripe old 27, shot 70-65-66-68 to beat Brad Faxon, Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry, and Kirk Triplett by 11 shots. Woods earned $810,000. Woods was so sick Saturday night he was nearly hospitalized with a stomach virus. However, the hometown favorite at the time rallied Sunday with that 68 to turn a five-shot lead into an 11-stroke romp. Woods became just the third PGA Tour player to ever four-peat in a tournament. “If I wasn’t in contention, I wouldn’t have gone,” Woods said. “There’s no way. Every single shot hurt because my abs were obviously sore from last night and I continued on while I was playing. The night was long, and the day was probably longer.”
2008: Tiger ties Ben Hogan with 64th Tour win
In 2008, Tiger Woods indeed saved his best for last at Bay Hill, dropping a 24-foot putt to beat Bart Bryant on the final shot of the tournament. It was the first time in seven years Woods had won with a birdie on the 72nd hole of a PGA Tour event. Woods shot a 66 Saturday to take a piece of the lead and hung tough for his fifth victory in Orlando. It was the first time a PGA Tour player had ever won four tournaments five different times. The win, his 64th all time, tied him with Ben Hogan for third on the all-time Tour list. “It feels good; it really does,” Woods said. “It’s why you work all those tireless hours. It’s why you get up at 0-dark-30 and log your miles, bust your tail in the gym …to be in that position time and time again. Trust me, that’s the rush, to be in that position.”
2009: Tiger pumped after 6th win at Bay Hill
At age 33, Tiger Woods delivered a vintage Woods fist-pump after he beat Sean O’Hair by one shot on the final hole of the event. Woods shot a 67 Sunday, while O’Hair struggled in the final round with a 73. Woods rolled in a 16-footer to win it. Woods was playing in just his third tournament since having knee surgery the previous June following his 2008 U.S. Open victory. Woods trailed this final-round Sunday in Orlando by as many as five shots. The victory, his 66th, also ended the longest winless drought of Woods’ career (at that time) of 286 days. “You can understand sometimes when some of the older players haven’t been in contention in a while and they come back and then all of a sudden they put themselves in contention and then they win,” Woods said. “You just remember how to do it. It hasn’t been that long for me, but you just have that feel of what to do and it’s a matter of getting it done.”
2012: Comeback hits high point at Bay Hill
In what was the second of what has become four notable career comebacks, Woods won his first PGA Tour event since his divorce and that infamous 2009 “Black Friday” incident in which he crashed into a fire hydrant outside his Central Florida home. Woods rode a second-round 65 to shoot a 5-under 275 overall and earn $1.08 million. He iced it with a 33 on Sunday’s the front-nine. The victory ended another winless drought for Woods. This one had lasted 923 days. “You just remember how to do it. It hasn’t been that long for me, but you just have that feel of what to do and it’s a matter of getting it done,” Woods said.
Here’s Dan Hicks’ call of the clincher. Chills and all.
2013: Tiger denies Rickie for 8th victory at Bay Hill
For the eighth and final time, Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer celebrated after Woods won at Bay Hill. Woods beat Justin Rose by two shots and posted a 275 overall to earn $1.116 million. It would be Woods’ third victory of 2013 and the 77th of his career. Woods left Orlando with his putter held aloft as he walked off 18, and back atop both FedEx Cup standings and the Official World Golf Ranking.
