Woods back on song to claim third hat-trick

For the statisticians nothing was more inevitable than Tiger Woods winning the Bay Hill Invitational. For everyone else this victory by the world No 1 owed more to the old theatrical proverb that everything would work out for the best, but how would be a mystery.

What had looked like a routine procession for Woods after two rounds ultimately involved rather more in the way of television-friendly fluctuating fortunes before he secured a four-stroke victory over New Zealand's Michael Campbell.

As on Saturday, when he shot 74, Woods struggled with his game but was less erratic than in the third round and rediscovered his putting touch. As soon as he made his move at the start of the back nine, the rest parted in his wake. With four birdies in the last 10 holes, Woods scored a 69 to finish on 13 under.

To get the numbers out the way, this was Tiger's third successive victory at Bay Hill. In so doing he became the first player to win a hat-trick of three different US Tour events, breaking out of the tie he shared with Arnold Palmer, Gene Sarazen and Walter Hagen after he won each of the Memorial and the NEC World Invitational for a third straight time last year.

"In this day and age it is an amazing thing he has achieved," said Palmer, the host at Bay Hill. "He continues to do amazing things."

The 26-year-old became the youngest to reach 30 US Tour wins but it was his first since the NEC last August, perfect timing given the Masters next month. It was his fifth win in his last nine starts in his adopted home state of Florida ­ he will be looking to add to that tally this week at the Players Championship at Sawgrass ­ and the 26th time out of 30 that he has converted a 54-hole lead into victory.

Yet it was a lead that evaporated when he bogeyed the first for the second day running. Angel Cabrera briefly topped the leaderboard but, of the multitude of pretenders lurking just off the lead, it was Phil Mickelson, the world No 2, who made a charge.

Woods defeated Mickelson in a memorable battle here last year and the left-hander's fourth birdie of the day at the 10th hole put him in front by one from Cabrera and two from Woods. After a good par-saving putt at the eighth, Woods was still one over par for the day but he then birdied three of the next four holes.

With Mickelson making a four at the par-five 12th, Woods was still one behind after successive threes at the nine and 10. But as he then birdied the 12th himself, Mickelson was dropping a shot at the par-three 14th, where his chip from behind the green came up 20 feet short.

The two-shot swing landed Woods back in the lead, which led to Mickelson panicking at the par-five 16th. Having driven into the right trees, Mickelson might have been expected to chip and pitch on with a chance still to get his birdie. Instead he delicately removed a twig from by his ball ­ the steadiest of hands required not to cause a penalty ­ and then took aim at the green.

It was a risk too many and he found the water to bogey the hole. Another at the last was his third in the final five holes as he dropped to eight under. Woods duly took his four at the 16th and while others found the last two holes tricky, he parred the 17th from the roof of the grandstand. Campbell, in his best finish in the States, chipped in from the back of the 18th to break out of a five-way tie and claim second place on his own, a difference worth $192,000 (£135,000).

"The putt on the eighth hole was the whole turnaround," Woods said. "I needed that one and dug down deep. From then on I relaxed and went on to play well. I was hitting it pretty good coming in and just hung on."

Jose Maria Olazabal tied for seventh alongside Cabrera at seven under after a 72, while Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia finished a stroke further back.

USPGA BAY HILL INVITATIONAL (Orlando, Florida) Leading third-round scores (US unless stated): 206 T Woods 67 65 74. 207 L Mattiace 73 66 68. 208 P Perez 70 69 69; C Campbell 70 70 68; M Campbell (NZ) 72 68 68; J Huston 67 71 70; S McCarron 69 67 72. 209 A Cabrera (Arg) 67 70 72; S Garcia (Sp) 68 71 70; V Singh (Fiji) 69 71 69; J Daly 67 71 71; E Els (SA) 70 67 72; S Hoch 71 68 70; P Mickelson 69 71 69; J M Olazabal (Sp) 71 68 70.