Tiger stages great comeback for 6th Bay Hill win

The Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. " The clutch shots. The late charge. An electric birdie putt on the 18th hole at Bay Hill.

Yep, Tiger Woods is back.

With those familiar back-nine heroics and a putt most everyone knew he was going to make, Woods holed a 15-footer for birdie to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational for his first victory since returning from knee surgery.

Woods closed with a 3-under 67 for a one-shot victory over hard-luck Sean O'Hair, matching his largest comeback on the PGA Tour.

"It feels good to be back in contention, to feel the rush," Woods said. "It's been awhile, 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 U.S. 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.

Woods finished at 5-under 275 and won $1.08 million for his 66th career victory.

WEBB WINS BY 2

PHOENIX " Karrie Webb shot a 5-under 67 on Sunday for a two-stroke victory in the J Golf LPGA International, her first win on the tour in two years.

The 34-year-old Australian earned her 36th career LPGA Tour title, finishing at 14-under 274. Third-round leader Jiyai Shin of South Korea shot a 70 to finish second.

Another South Korean, In-Kyung Kim " the leader after the first and second rounds " finished three strokes back. She had a 70.

Webb had an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys in breezy conditions on the 6,711-yard Papago Golf Course. She started the day one shot behind Shin, but took the lead just after the turn, then capped her day with a near-eagle on No. 18.

The $225,000 first prize raised Webb's career earnings to just over $14.5 million, second only to Annika Sorenstam.

Webb ended any doubt by knocking her second shot about 10 feet short of the cup on the par-5, 475-yard 18th. She missed the putt, but tapped in for birdie, then threw her fist in the air in celebration.

"I've won in Australia in the last two years, but winning on the LPGA against the best players in the world is obviously very important to me," Webb said. "You know you still have the ability to do it, but you're putting the scores on the board that indicate you can't still do it."

She had not won since her five victories in 2006.

Webb started the day one shot behind the third-round leader Shin and briefly took the lead with an eagle on the par-5, 513-yard sixth hole. Kim, though, had birdies on the sixth, seventh and eight holes to move in front.

Kim made the turn with a one-shot lead at 13-under but hit it in the water on the par-5, 544-yard 10th hole and wound up with a double-bogey 7. Webb stormed through the opening, knocking in a birdie putt on the 10th to go to minus-13, then making another on the par-4, 355-yard 11th to open a two-shot lead on her playing partner Shin.

"I kept waiting for Karrie to make a mistake," Shin said, "but she played very well."

Webb did have a bogey on No. 15 to fall back to 13-under, but Shin had a bogey there, too.

"I'm pretty lucky that she didn't have her best putting day," Webb said of the young South Korean. "I've definitely seen her make a few more putts than she did today."

The tournament, a longtime stop on the LPGA tour, lost its sponsor and its home course a year ago. The LPGA stepped in to save the event, moving it from the scenic Superstition Mountain Golf Club east of Phoenix to the newly renovated Papago municipal course in the city.

"I missed the cut three times at Superstition Mountain," Webb said. "I'm sure I'm one of the only players who wasn't disappointed to not be going there this year."

The course was closed for most of last year and didn't reopen until December, so crews had to scramble to get it in shape for a professional event. The brown-tinged greens were especially hard because the grass hadn't had a chance to grow.

Two-time defending champion Lorena Ochoa had her best round of the week at 70 to finish at 4-under 284.

Michelle Wie, in her second tournament of the season but first in more than a month, was over par for the fourth consecutive round, a 73 to finish at 8-over 296.

The event was a tuneup for the season's first major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship next week in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Webb won the tournament in 2006, the last of her seven major titles.