BACK CLOCK

as old roar returns

to. But he stood up on Sunday. He made you watch him on television even with the last two spots in the Final Four being settled on another network, turned himself into the main event for a few hours and shot 13-under and beat Mcdowell by five.

Mcdowell hung in there pretty good after a double-bogey six on the first hole. But this really was like the old days, when Woods was the greatest front-runner of all time, when you couldn’t touch him when he had the lead, at the Palmer or the Masters or anywhere else, at least until Y.E. Yang caught him and passed him in the final round of the 2009 PGA. “It does feel good, it feels really good,” Woods said to NBC’S Roger Maltbie when it was over.

Maltbie then asked about the tremendous reception Woods got from the fans at Bay Hill. The crowds following Woods and Mcdowell were tremendous Sunday, so was the noise, from fans who so obviously love a comeback story.

“It was incredible to have that kind of support here,” Woods said. “I used to live here for a long time.”

He could have been talking about days like this and moments like this, when he seemed to be in complete control of his latest swing, and his emotions. And had forgotten what year it was and everything that had happened to him since that ride down his own driveway. My friend Barney Adams, the founder of Adams Golf, is someone I talk to all the time about golf, just because he always has such a smart take on everything. He is a great friend of Tom Watson’s and once had Hank Haney, Tiger’s former coach, working for him. And has been rooting hard for Tiger to come back.

When it was over Sunday, Barney said: “Whatever your feelings about Tiger when he is in the hunt, the business of professional golf wins big-time. And it is a business.” Yeah, that was it. That was the story. Tiger won Sunday, and for this one day, nobody in golf lost. Tiger Woods takes enjoyable walk up 18th fairway, with his first PGA Tour win since September of 2009 in the bag. Photo by Getty