Unquenchable attention-seeker that is he, Tiger Woods has once again barged his way to the centre of golf's great stage, courtesy of a victory in the fading light at Bay Hill Country Club on Sunday evening that was as dramatic, and as significant, as any outside of his 14 major championship titles.
Three events into his comeback after a long absence through injury, the world No1 needed to hole a 16-foot putt on the final green to edge out Sean O'Hair. He also needed no second invitation. Into the hole went the ball, and into caddie Steve Williams' beefy embrace went Woods. It was the sixth time he had won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the third time he had done so by holing a long putt on the final green.
Victories are the elixir of Woods' being but, watching his eyes widen as his ball tracked towards its intended target and watching him dance with unfettered joy as it found the bullseye, it was obvious how much the moment meant to him.
Just as Woods has a vast army of slavish admirers he also has a small coterie of doubters, all of whom were feeding voraciously off his failure to impress during his first two events since returning to the sport, at the World Matchplay in Tucson, where he was knocked out in the second round, and the CA Championship at Doral, where he finished inside the top 10 but was never in contention.
"Will he ever be the player he was?" whispered the non-believers. Well, they have their answer now. He has shut them up, and how he loves to do that.
Some aspects of Woods' performance over four days at Bay Hill will have given hope to the rest – his ball-striking was not quite at the gold standard and he hit the occasional shot that was not only bad but breathtakingly so – but his refusal to buckle in the face of adversity and his ability to hole crucial putts when absolutely necessary were ominous for the rest.
Of the 72 holes played, the 54th – the last of Saturday's third round – summed up his performance. After a poor drive left him in the fairway rough, his approach shot to the green came up short and landed in the rocks in front of the green. He then hit his fourth shot to 25 feet and holed the putt for bogey.
It wasn't pretty but it was crucial, not least because it earned him a place in the final grouping for Sunday's fourth round alongside Zach Johnson and O'Hair, who started the day with a five-shot lead over Woods. The advantage had shrunk to two shots by the turn and it had disappeared by the 15th green. The two protagonists exchanged shots at the next two holes and stepped on to the 18th tee tied on four-under par.
O'Hair reached the green in regulation but missed his birdie putt, leaving Woods with his opportunity. There was surely no-one in the crowds gathered greenside, nor among the millions watching on television, who doubted what was going to happen next. Certainly, Johnson did not.
"I don't think I've ever seen him make a putt when he had to have one. And that was the epitome of sarcasm right there," the former Masters champion said afterwards. "The guy is amazing. I am in awe. I don't want to say shock. I'm in awe."
Even Woods was impressed, momentarily at least. "I don't know how I coaxed that ball in," he said of the winning putt. "As I look back at my three tournaments I've played this year, I've gotten better at each one. I was hoping I could get my game where I could feel hitting shots again because I'd been only on the range and putting at home. The whole idea was to keep progressing to Augusta."
Mission accomplished, clearly.
The world No1 will take the rest of this week off to prepare for next week's Masters, leaving rivals like Phil Mickelson, who saw his chance of becoming world No1 disappear with Woods' victory on Sunday, and Padraig Harrington, who showed a semblance of form in finishing in a tie for 11th at Bay Hill, to hone their games at the PGA event in Houston, starting on Thursday.
The Masters is always keenly anticipated, but with the two Americans, rivals since the teenage years in southern California, and the Irishman, who will be seeking his third successive major victory, all apparently peaking at the right time, the 2009 edition of the Bobby Jones' annual spring classic seems destined to be one for the ages.
