Tiger Woods has put the PGA Tour on notice after winning three times this season, his latest being a triumph at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he has won the tournament eight times in his career.
Woods looked dominant over the final rounds during the weekend and on Monday and he received some welcome praise and attention after the win, as his girlfriend Lindsey Vonn congratulated him for being back to number one on Twitter. The victory at Bay Hill gave Woods the number one ranking over Rory McIlroy for the first time since October 2010.
"Number 1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!" Vonn tweeted after Woods hoisted the trophy at the event. Woods has said that the relationship has nothing to do with his success, but the golfer has won three times before the Masters for the first time since 2008, which happens to be the last time he won a major championship.
"I'm really excited about the rest of this year," Woods said.
Woods is the clear cut favorite at the Masters in April and it comes just weeks after he and Vonn went public with their relationship with pictures no Facebook. The two were friends first and to quickly turned romantic and after months of rumors, the two decided to make it public.
Woods won the tournament at Bay Hill last year and is now number one after a long fall from grace that saw him drop as low as 58th in the world. For a time he didn't win on the tour for two years, but that appears long over. Woods tied Sam Snead for the most wins at one event and now is number one after four golfers had the distinction, including McIlroy, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer.
Woods has been excellent with his putter this year and in his past 20 starts he has won six tournaments, which is the most on tour, while missing just two cuts and finishing in the top 10 eleven different times. The Invitational was pushed to Monday after a rain storm, but it was already the second time Woods had won on a delay, as he did it at Torrey Pines as well.
