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Tiger Woods back as world No 1
25 Mar 2013 at 14:14hrs | Views
Tiger Woods reclaimed the world No 1 ranking for the first time since October 2010 with a closing round of two-under 70 to capture the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational on Monday.
With his eighth Bay Hill course triumph, the 37-year-old Woods replaces Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy atop the world rankings.
The 14-time major champion previously spent a record 623 weeks on top of the world.
But he has not topped the rankings for nearly three years after injuries and an infamous sex scandal saw him tumble from the top 50.
Woods claimed his 77th career PGA triumph - and 99th professional tournament win - in his final tune-up event for next month's Masters.
In a rare Monday finish, due to a severe thunder storm that postponed Sunday's round, Woods outdueled fellow American Rickie Fowler down the stretch winning by two strokes in the $6.2m event.
Sunday's storm swept across the Bay Hill Club & Lodge course in dramatic fashion with gusting winds toppling trees and television towers.
Woods and playing partner Fowler began on Monday on the third hole and Woods quickly set the tone with birdies on a pair of par-fives, the No 4 and No 6 holes.
He finished on 18 with a bogey but it was enough to reach 13-under 275, giving him the win and propel him into No 1 for the first time since 2010.
Runner-up Justin Rose fired a two-under 70 to finish at 11-under while Fowler stumbled down the stretch and closed with a one-over 73 to end in a four-way tie for third at eight-under 280.
Woods has now won 51 times in 55 tries when holding the lead entering the final round and is four wins shy of matching Sam Snead's all-time record.
Leading final-round scores on Monday from the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational (USA unless noted, par-72):
275 - Tiger Woods 69-70-66-70
277 - Justin Rose (ENG) 65-70-72-70
280 - Mark Wilson 71-68-70-71, Keegan Bradley 74-69-66-71, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (ESP) 69-71-68-72, Rickie Fowler 73-67-67-73
281 - Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 69-73-66-73
282 - William McGirt 74-70-70-68, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 71-71-69-71, Bill Haas 69-66-73-74, Jimmy Walker 69-69-70-74, Ken Duke 70-68-70-74
283 - Scott Brown 74-71-69-69
284 - Bubba Watson 74-71-72-67, Ben Kohles 69-73-70-72
285 - Chris Kirk 71-72-72-70, Camilo Villegas (COL) 71-74-70-70, Erik Compton 72-72-70-71, John Rollins 68-72-71-74, Brian Stuard 74-69-67-75
286 - Vaughn Taylor 71-74-70-71, Carl Pettersson (SWE) 72-72-71-71, Kevin Streelman 74-71-70-71, Ben Curtis 72-70-70-74, Ian Poulter (ENG) 72-69-70-75, Hunter Mahan 71-70-70-75
With his eighth Bay Hill course triumph, the 37-year-old Woods replaces Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy atop the world rankings.
The 14-time major champion previously spent a record 623 weeks on top of the world.
But he has not topped the rankings for nearly three years after injuries and an infamous sex scandal saw him tumble from the top 50.
Woods claimed his 77th career PGA triumph - and 99th professional tournament win - in his final tune-up event for next month's Masters.
In a rare Monday finish, due to a severe thunder storm that postponed Sunday's round, Woods outdueled fellow American Rickie Fowler down the stretch winning by two strokes in the $6.2m event.
Sunday's storm swept across the Bay Hill Club & Lodge course in dramatic fashion with gusting winds toppling trees and television towers.
Woods and playing partner Fowler began on Monday on the third hole and Woods quickly set the tone with birdies on a pair of par-fives, the No 4 and No 6 holes.
He finished on 18 with a bogey but it was enough to reach 13-under 275, giving him the win and propel him into No 1 for the first time since 2010.
Runner-up Justin Rose fired a two-under 70 to finish at 11-under while Fowler stumbled down the stretch and closed with a one-over 73 to end in a four-way tie for third at eight-under 280.
Woods has now won 51 times in 55 tries when holding the lead entering the final round and is four wins shy of matching Sam Snead's all-time record.
Leading final-round scores on Monday from the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational (USA unless noted, par-72):
275 - Tiger Woods 69-70-66-70
277 - Justin Rose (ENG) 65-70-72-70
280 - Mark Wilson 71-68-70-71, Keegan Bradley 74-69-66-71, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (ESP) 69-71-68-72, Rickie Fowler 73-67-67-73
281 - Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 69-73-66-73
282 - William McGirt 74-70-70-68, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 71-71-69-71, Bill Haas 69-66-73-74, Jimmy Walker 69-69-70-74, Ken Duke 70-68-70-74
283 - Scott Brown 74-71-69-69
284 - Bubba Watson 74-71-72-67, Ben Kohles 69-73-70-72
285 - Chris Kirk 71-72-72-70, Camilo Villegas (COL) 71-74-70-70, Erik Compton 72-72-70-71, John Rollins 68-72-71-74, Brian Stuard 74-69-67-75
286 - Vaughn Taylor 71-74-70-71, Carl Pettersson (SWE) 72-72-71-71, Kevin Streelman 74-71-70-71, Ben Curtis 72-70-70-74, Ian Poulter (ENG) 72-69-70-75, Hunter Mahan 71-70-70-75
Source - AFP
