Tiger's 'Slump' Is Over

No more talk about a slump, just more stories about the amazing feats of Tiger Woods.

Erratic with his driver to the very end, Woods recovered with two brilliant shots that set up birdies, including a 15-footer on the final hole to beat hard-charging Phil Mickelson by one stroke and win the Bay Hill Invitational on Sunday.

"It's always nice to win," Woods said. "It was not a pretty round of golf, but I got the ball in the hole. I was able to get some wonderful breaks down the stretch."

Woods closed with a 3-under 69 and became only the second player to repeat as Bay Hill champion. More importantly, it was his first victory of the year in seven tournaments, the longest he ever has gone without winning to start a season.

It wasn't easy, and Woods needed some luck.

Mickelson had a 6-under 66, making back-to-back birdies to take the lead from Woods and then hanging on with a 60-yard pitch shot to within a couple of inches to save par on the 18th hole.

Woods, who hit only two fairways on the back nine, appeared to be in trouble on No. 16, a par 5 easily reachable in two, when he hooked his drive left of the bunker and about 4 feet away from the out-of-bounds fence.

One stroke behind, with the final two holes into the wind, Woods went for the green and it paid off. His 7-iron came out high and long, clearing the pond and hopping up to the back shelf for a two-putt birdie from 35 feet.

Woods had little choice but to hit driver on the 18th, and pulled it badly. It appeared to be heading out of bounds until it hit a spectator in the neck and dropped next to the cart path. A woman picked up the ball and immediately dropped it maybe the Nike swoosh and the word "Tiger" stamped on the ball gave her a clue.

Woods got a free drop, anyway, because his feet were on the cart path.

From 195 yards on grass trampled nearly bare by the gallery, Woods rifled a 5-iron through the stiff breeze and over the water, the ball landing softly in the back portion of the green about 15 feet from the hole.

One putt away from putting an end to questions about what's wrong with his game, Woods didn't waste the opportunity. The putt was true to the end, breaking gently from left to right.

Woods let out a roar, drowned out by thousands of spectators crammed around the green, and pumped his fist three times before giving a high-five to caddie Steve Williams.

Woods, who finished at 15-under 273, earned $630,000 for his 25th career victory in just his 96th start on the PGA Tour. Until this year, the longest he had gone without winning to start the year was five tournaments when he turned pro as a 20-year-old in 1996.

Chris Perry had third place locked up until hitting two wild approach shots on the 18th and making triple bogey.

"I felt like I did what I needed to do to ultimately win," Mickelson said. "Tiger just did the same."

So ended the best show on the PGA Tour this year, a dramatic duel even though Woods and Mickelson were separated by two holes. Cheers resounded back and forth across Bay Hill as Mickelson surged ahead and Woods fought back.

Woods was in control until his biggest mistake of the round, hitting a 2-iron off the tee on the 438-yard 11th hole, into the wind. He left himself 222 yards to the green, missed it left and had an impossible chip.

"How stupid was that?" Woods muttered to himself just off the green. He made bogey to fall back to 12 under and into a tie for the lead with Mickelson.

As Mickelson was walking across the bridge to the 16th green for an eagle putt up the slope, he heard a loud cheer from 1,000 yards away. It was for Woods, who rolled in a 40-foot birdie putt on the 14th.

The victory was extra sweet for Woods because of his victim Mickelson, who rallied to beat him in the Tour Championship last November and denied Woods a chance to become the first player in 50 years with 10 victories.

Mickelson's last two victories had come with Woods in contention.

"It was nice to sneak one out on him," Woods said.

It was a little surprising, too, considering how shaky Woods was from start to finish. He hit only seven fairways, just one using his driver. He nearly went out of bounds on three holes, saved by either a branch or a spectator.

"It was ugly," Woods said. "I didn't hit the ball that solid. I didn't know where it was going to go but forward. I was just trying to hit the ball between the O.B. markers."

It was a fitting conclusion to this talk about a slump.

Woods has said all along that he was playing well but simply wasn't getting the breaks required to win. On a cool, cloudy day at Bay Hill, he hit the ball poorly and wound up a winner.

"That's the beauty of our game," he said. "It's very fickle."

It still requires some measure of skill, and Woods still has some of that.

Divots: Sergio Garcia was tied for Woods until taking triple bogey on the par-5 sixth when he hit his approach into the water. He wound up with a 74 and finished in a tie for fourth with Masters champion Vijay Singh and Greg Norman, who was playing for the first time on the PGA Tour this year.