Arnold Palmer Invitational 2012: Field Should Be Terrified After Tiger Victory

Say adios to the field’s dominance.

Have you ever been to a zoo and contemplated: I wonder if that tiger could hop the fence if he really wanted to? Well, start running because Tiger just cleared the fence that was his lack of confidence.

When Woods was on top, his swagger was legendary. No athlete on the planet was more clutch. But ever since his drama outside the lines was exposed, he lost that it-factor.

Swagger is a result of supreme confidence. If you can’t win, though, it’s difficult to be confident in your ability. Tiger hadn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2009, therefore, his confidence was suffering.

Key word: hadn’t.

Gatorade doesn’t sponsor him anymore, but on Sunday, Tiger finally quenched his thirst. The now No. 18-ranked golfer in world won the 2012 Arnold Palmer Invitational. The ending of his Texas-like drought should absolutely horrify his competition.

Tiger didn’t just sneak away with a victory. He demolished everyone.

Woods finished the fourth round of the tournament at 13-under par. Graeme McDowell finished in second place—five strokes behind.

According to the USA Today, Tiger didn’t take his spot atop the leaderboard for granted as he told the media after his performance on Saturday:

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“I enjoy it. It means I've played well to get there. It's not like I'm slashing it all over the place and happened to be at 11-under par. If you're in the lead, you've done some good things. That's how I've always looked at it, and it's a nice position to be in.”

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Despite his poor play over the past three years, Woods has always been the most talented golfer on tour. Now that he’s shaken off the rust, the old Tiger is back, but not just skill wise.

The superstar is confident once again. And with that confidence comes swagger, crunch-time heroics and major victories.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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