Tiger Woods secured one of the most important wins of his career at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday.
After 30 months without an offical Tour victory (he did win the 18-man Chevron World Challenge in December), Woods held off the challenge of Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell to claim his seventh Arnold Palmer Invitational title at Bay Hill.
Woods' final-round two-under-par 70 and 13-under 275 total proved more than enough as he won by all of five shots over McDowell, who struggled to a two-over-par 74.
Ian Poulter finished a further two strokes back in third after a 74 of his own, while a seven-man tie for fourth place followed on five under - Ryan Moore (70), Brian Davis (70), Bubba Watson (72), Bud Cauley (72), Kevin Na (73), Johnson Wagner (74) and Ernie Els (75).
But the day belonged to Woods, who found his winning touch at the perfect time, a mere two weeks before the world's best head to Augusta for the Masters, where the four-time champions will now once again be one of the favourites.
That it came only two weeks after an Achilles injury forced him to retire from the WGC-Cadillac Championship, leading many to speculate about his future, makes it all the more remarkable.
Starting the day with a one-shot lead, it soon became three for Woods when a plugged lie at the first for McDowell led to a double bogey.
Woods bogeyed at the second to reduce his lead to two, but never looked back after that. Despite signs of a comeback from McDowell, who made a 45-footer from the fringe of the third and then holed from over 50 feet for eagle at the long sixth, Woods was making plenty of birdies of his own - three in four holes, in fact - and he kept his two-shot lead.
Another birdie followed for Woods at the difficult eighth, while McDowell missed a four-foot par putt at the ninth, and suddenly Woods had a four-stroke cushion heading to the back nine.
There weren't many birdie opportunities after the turn and Woods was instead forced to make a clutch par putt from 12 feet at the 15th. When McDowell missed a six-foot birdie putt at the 16th and then bogeyed the 17th as well, it was all over.
Woods was, understandably, elated, having silenced his critics in decisive fashion.
"Pure joy," he said, when he was asked how he felt.
"It's not like winning a major championship or anything. But it certainly feels really good."
For Woods, it was a case of having many positives to take away, particularly regarding the work he's put into his game.
"I've gotten better, and that's the main thing," Woods said. "I've been close for a number of tournaments now. And it was just a matter of staying the course and staying patient, keeping working on fine-tuning what we're doing. And here we are.
"I enjoyed the progression we made this week. Each day there was a little bit of fine-tuning here and there, and we were able to make those adjustments, which was good, and especially with the conditions getting more difficult on the weekend. I was able to hit some really good shots the last two days, and that's a very good sign going into Augusta."
And what about the Masters?
"I am excited, no doubt," Woods said. "I'm looking forward to the momentum I've built here."
McDowell was humble in defeat.
"I think he really just kind of nailed home his comeback," McDowell said. "Great to have a front-row seat watching maybe the greatest of all time doing what he does best -- winning golf tournaments."
Elsewhere, it was a bad day for Ernie Els, who needed a top-two finish to make it into the Masters after Jim Furyk finished 11th. A final-round 75 was not what the doctor ordered and Els now needs to win next week's Houston Open to make the final cut.
Woods' victory has set things up perfectly for the year's first major, starting April 5th, when his new-found mettle will be tested against the likes of Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald.
golf365.com