Tiger Woods is back to winning tournaments, he is dating a blonde Olympian and has a chance to regain the number one world ranking he lost after his sex scandal as the PGA Tour heads to Orlando for the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Woods has performed well at the tournament in the past and is the returning winner from last year, which helped start his breakout run that he is currently on now. Woods has won twice before the Masters in April for the first time since 2005 and after defeating the Blue Monster and Torrey Pines, he is the clear favorite at Bay Hill.
With a win over the weekend, Woods will be able to take back his number one ranking from Rory McElroy after 125 weeks. Woods now has five wins since the beginning of last year and it finally appears he is "back" after the sex scandal that rocked his world in 2009.
"Well, to get back to No. 1," Woods acknowledged, "I've got to win this week. Not too complicated."
At his worst, Woods dropped to 59th and has slowly made his way back since dealing with his personal crisis. Woods has come so far that he even went public with his relationship with skier Lindsey Vonn, which had been rumored about for months.
According to ESPN.com, the two have been dating for a while and revealed their relationship on social medial earlier in the week. Woods said he uploaded the pictures and released a statement to foil the constant media and tabloid speculation about his love life.
"Unfortunately, that's just the way it is in our society right now, and we felt like it was the best thing to do. I'm very happy about it," he said.
Woods is nine years older than Vonn and it is his first high profile relationship since his divorce from Elin Nordegren that played out on the world stage. Rory McIlroy is not playing at Bay Hill and after his poor start to the year, Woods is in position to take over once again.
McIlroy missed the cut at Abu Dhabi and was eliminated from Match play in the first round before quitting and walking off at the Honda Classic. He did better in the final round of the WGC, but he will need to get in shape next week as he plays his last tournament before the Masters.
Woods is the clear favorite heading into the major and it would be his first since winning the US Open in a playoff in 2009. Woods has won seven times at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, outing him in a tie with himself at three other events and one behind Sam Snead for the most wins at a single event in tour history.
Woods has been using his putter better all year and was fantastic while winning the WGC, finishing with one less birdie than his career high and his lowest amount of putts ever.