By Dennis de Jesus Jr.

GolfWRX Contributor

We’ve seen this script before. It’s almost automatic. Prior to today, Tiger Woods has converted 48 out of 52 54-hole leads. Make it 49 out of 53.

Woods put together yet another consistent and solid round for a 2-under 70 to capture the 2012 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.  In what has become a trend in a Tiger Woods dominated tournament, the field never really bothered to challenge him as Woods managed to run away with a 13-under overall score that put him five up from Graeme McDowell’s solo second place finish.

Despite being a pro Tiger crowd, Graeme McDowell also had great crowd support throughout the day which he couldn’t convert in his favor.  The round had the makings of a great head to head battle much like their final round pairing at the 2010 Chevron World Challenge, but quickly deflated after McDowell made a double bogey on the first hole to fall three shots back.  With Woods carding a bogey on the par-3 second hole, it seemed there was an opportunity to swing the tournament back towards the Irishman’s way, but McDowell couldn’t gain much on the steady handed Woods for the rest of the day.

Woods again showcased his swing control and smart course management throughout the final round, hitting fairways on 10 of 14 attempts and finding 15 of 18 greens in regulation.  When there were miscues, Woods’ scrambling and putting were spectacular, leaving little room for McDowell to capitalize.  Accuracy on the fairways and on the greens proved to be the difference maker, as Woods held the top spot in greens in regulation, scrambling and birdies for the week.

The win marks Tiger’s seventh tournament win at Bay Hill and more notably his 72nd PGA Tour win overall.  This comfortably places Woods in third place in career wins, and within striking distance of Jack Nicklaus’ 73 wins and one closer to Sam Snead’s career win record of 82.

It’s been 924 days since we last saw Tiger hoist a trophy on Tour and as the ratings will likely show, it’s garnered the attention of golf fans everywhere.  Let’s not forget that Tiger moves the needle and despite the push of the Tour to market the younger generation of up and comers, seeing Tiger compete and compete well is music to the Tour officials and sponsor’s ears.

And apart from all the numbers, this win may just trigger a renaissance for Tiger.  Since the drama of his personal life, we have watched Tiger struggle on the course and make changes to his game that many have criticized and challenged.  From his caddie, his swing, his putting stroke … everything has been scrutinized with such detail that many questioned whether he can win a major, let alone any tournament again.  But what we have seen in the last few months is real improvements in his game, albeit pieces of it from week to week, but improvements nonetheless. For the first time in a very long time, we are seeing a complete picture of what the new winning Tiger profile looks like. From tee to green, we are seeing what all those details have built themselves up to and when put together and all working in sync, this mid-30s version of Tiger could be just as good as mid-20s Tiger.

Days before a tell-all controversial book is released about Tiger, the timing of this victory couldn’t be any better.  Winning is what makes Tiger the polarizing figure that he is, and a big reason why he is beloved for his talents on the course.  All the other stuff is just noise and winning is a helpful commodity in  silencing that noise.  Tiger is playing well, he’s healthy and he’s consistent. Watch out Tour – he’s baaaack.

You can follow Dennis on Twitter @jugojr