Relive Woods' first five victories at Bay Hill

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Tiger Woods had one of his most memorable victory celebrations when he threw his hat at the 2008 event.
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Mar. 29, 2009
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents

Tiger Woods picked up his sixth victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. How did he earn the other five wins?

2000 Bay Hill Invitational

This would be the first of many wins for Tiger Woods at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge. He grabbed a one-stroke lead with a second-round 64 and lengthened it to two after shooting 67 in the third. His playing partner on Sunday was Davis Love III, who shot a third-round 63 but had only broken 70 once in 12 final rounds at Bay Hill. Love didn't get off to a good start, either, making bogey on two of his first three holes, then falling five strokes behind Woods when the game's No. 1 made birdie at No. 4. Birdies at the 10th and 11th gave Love hope before Woods all but ended the suspense with a two-putt birdie at the par-5 12th. He went on to win by four.

"I had the lead," Woods said. "I figured I could put pressure on Davis by hitting a lot of fairways and greens. I feel pretty good about my short game right now."

"I made too many mistakes today," Love said. "You're not going to beat Tiger playing like that."

2001 Bay Hill Invitational

Tiger Woods came to Bay Hill having played in five tournaments without a win. The national media was publicly speculating about a slump -- despite the fact that Woods hadn't finished lower than 13th and he was a cumulative 75 under. He took a one-stroke advantage over Sergio Garcia into the final round but it was Phil Mickelson who turned out to give chase, taking the lead at the 11th hole when Woods made bogey. A two-putt birdie at the 16th hole -- where Woods' drive was 2 feet from the OB stake -- pulled the world No. 1 back into a tie with Mickelson. The 72nd hole decided the outcome as Woods hit a spectator with his drive, which turned out to be fortuitous because his ball was tracking toward OB again. He took a drop from the cart path and fired a 5-iron to 15 feet where he made the birdie putt.

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

2002 Bay Hill Invitational presented by Cooper Tires

Tiger Woods' last two wins of 2001 were three-peats. Why should his first of 2002 be any different? No other PGA TOUR played had ever won three different tournaments three straight years. He didn't play particularly well on Saturday, but still held a one-stroke lead after that 74. No less than 14 players -- including Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els -- would start within three strokes of the lead, though. Mickelson seized the lead with a 10-foot birdie at the 10th hole but lost it when his vaulted short game failed him at the 14th as Woods made birdie on the 12th. A water-logged bogey at the 16th sealed Mickelson's fate while Woods would later play prudently at the par 5 and make birdie on the way to a four-stroke win.

"It was quite a fight out there," Woods said. "I tried to hang in there and give myself a lot of looks at birdie and not make any bogeys. You need to play smart, and I was able to do that."

2003 Bay Hill Invitational presented by Cooper Tires

Beware the ailing golfer. Tiger Woods was so sickened by that stomach virus he nearly went to the hospital on Saturday night. Instead, he summoned whatever reserves of strength he had and shot a final-round 68 to turn a five-stroke lead into a whopping 11-shot victory. Woods did not make a bogey over his final 44 holes as he won the Bay Hill Invitational presented by Cooper Tires for the fourth straight year -- joining Walter Hagen (1927-30 PGA) and Gene Sarazen (1926-30) Miami Open as the only players with a four-peat.

"If I wasn't in contention, I wouldn't have gone," Woods said. "There's no way. Every single shot hurt because my abs were obviously sore from last night and I continued on while I was playing. The night was long, and the day was probably longer. That being said, I'm happy with the way I played."

2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard

After a spate of lopsided victories, Tiger Woods needed a 24-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to edge Bart Bryant at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. That putt marked the first time in seven years Woods had won with a birdie on the 72nd hole and extended his TOUR win streak to five. Woods grabbed a share of the lead with a third-round 66 and then hung tough in the final round. His fifth victory at Bay Hill made Woods the first player to win four tournaments at least five times. He now has 63 wins and is tied with Ben Hogan for third all-time.

"f feels good; it really does," Woods said. "It's why you work all those tireless hours. It's why you get up at 0-dark-30 and log your miles, bust your tail in the gym, there's a reason why is to be in that position right there to fail or succeed, but to be in that position time and time again. Trust me, that's the rush, to be in that position."

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