Tiger Woods Shoots 2-Under in Front 9 in Arnold Palmer Invitational Final Round

Tiger Woods may not win the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, but he certainly kept himself in the running after shooting a 2-under front nine.

At the time of publication, that left Woods five strokes behind leader Henrik Stenson. Barring an epic back nine and something of a meltdown from Stenson, Woods likely won't earn his first win of the year in Orlando, but his improving play continues to impress nonetheless. 

After three straight pars to open his round, Woods hit a birdie on No. 4. He nearly backed it up with another birdie on No. 5, but a bit of bad luck kept him from moving to 9-under, per the PGA Tour:

He quickly got his birdie back on No. 6, however:

He kept up his strong afternoon with another birdie on No. 8:

Woods' putting has been superb in Orlando. That birdie made him 55 of 55 on putts within nine feet at the Invitational, a superb feat of consistency.  

ESPN's Mike Greenberg was certainly impressed:

A bogey on No. 9 put a slight damper on the party, though it hardly spoiled what was an impressive front nine for Woods. 

Indeed, when he is on his game, as he has been in his past two tournaments, the buzz surrounding golf grows. It's inevitable. A number of folks on Twitter were thrilled to see Woods returning to both form and relevancy:

Woods likely won't win in Orlando, but a second consecutive top-five finish—Woods is currently tied for fifth with Luke List, Byeong Hun An and Rickie Fowler—is absolutely a possibility. With the Masters just two weeks away, it would appear Woods is rounding into excellent form ahead of golfing's biggest event and the tournament he's won four times in the past.