Tiger: "I enjoyed the progression we made this week."

Doug Ferguson's AP lede:

His ball safely over the water, Tiger Woods walked toward the 18th green Sunday as he had done over the last 30 months on the PGA Tour, with one big difference.

There was no mistaking that smile.

"Pure joy," he said.

Steve Elling played off of Woods and bagman Joe LaCava's 18th fairway chatter.

They exchanged a high-five of such ferocity that it could have registered on a spring training radar gun. Woods barked something that the TV microphones didn't quite pick up. Just as well.

"He said, 'F-yeah,'" laughed LaCava.

Music to many ears.

Just like that, Woods was back atop the firmament, rough edges and all, and taking aim on Augusta National and the assortment of players who have been piling up wins while he was reconstituting and reclaiming his personal and private lives.

Steve DiMeglio put the win in perspective and quotes Tiger referring to "we":

After winning his record seventh Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday at wind-whipped, baked-out Bay Hill, Woods said he'd go back to work this week before heading to Augusta National for the Masters in April.

"I still need some work, and it's going to be good to get a week off and work on a few things," Woods said after earning his 72nd PGA Tour win, third on the all-time list. "I enjoyed the progression we made this week. Each day there was a little bit of fine-tuning here and there, and we were able to make those adjustments, which was good, and especially with the conditions getting more difficult on the weekend. I was able to hit some really good shots the last two days, and that's a very good sign going into Augusta. I understand how to play Augusta National, and it's just a matter of executing the game plan."

Bob Harig for ESPN.com, writing about the energized scene:

All the while, he had to hear the support from the gallery, which was jam-packed and primed to witness Woods' return to winning ways.

"Welcome back, Tiger!"

"Trophy time!"

"It's a new day!"

"Bring it home!"

By the time fans were allowed to funnel in behind Woods and McDowell as they played the 18th, it would have taken a monumental blunder to blow it, although Woods kept his head down and his emotions in check until he knocked the final approach over the water and onto the green.

Jason Sobel says normalcy has returned:

The guy who won this week did so with a flair for closing that no other recent champion has displayed. In the first 13 tournaments of this PGA Tour season, no winner triumphed by more than three strokes over the nearest competitor; on Sunday, Woods prevailed by five.

It’s the type of performance that Woods used to proffer on a semi-regular basis. It earned him the reputation as an intimidator and dominator, but in reality, he’s always been more keenly defined as a closer – the rare player who knows exactly what it takes to accomplish the end goal of winning a tournament, then goes out and executes that plan.

John Strege reminds us that this win should make Hank Haney's book tour this week that much more interesting.

Woods' five-stroke victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational won't change the conversation entirely -- Haney will be ubiquitous in the coming days as his publisher puts the publicity machine in overdrive. But it will set the golf world abuzz, returning the bulk of the focus to Woods' golf, rather than peripheral issues that include his now very public private life. Winning, of course, was always going to be the easiest path to redemption.

The timing of Woods' victory was propitious in another regard, one of indubitably greater importance. Two weeks before the Masters, it was imperative that he take into Augusta something other than imperceptible progress that he habitually labeled "a process." Say it often enough and it begins to sound like an excuse.

Selected highlights from the SI/golf.com Confidential:

Van Sickle: If Tiger isn't playing, McDowell runs away with this thing. Instead, he's the B-Flight champ. Sound familiar? Tiger was a touchdown ahead of everyone else.

Michael Bamberger, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: The win is deeply impressive because he earned it on the practice tee, and it's hard to devote yourself to the practice tee when you're 36 and your kids need rides and the lawn needs mowing. He earned it. It wasn't smoke-and-mirrors. It was not like old times. It was totally different.

Shipnuck: I loved Tiger's demeanor. He seemed utterly in control all day, and even a couple of 50-footers from G-Mac early in the round couldn't change that.

ESPN.com features a few stats from day, including this about Tiger's par-5 play.

Woods also dominated the par-5s at Bay Hill, finishing -12 on those holes, the best mark in the field. Entering this tournament, Tiger was -101 on par-5s at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in his career and +6 on par-3s and par-4s.

Ryan Lavner notes several things from Sunday, including that Tiger will be climbing up the OWGR.