Woods looks to regain world No1 after storm delay

TIGER Woods’ attempts to get back to No 1 in the world will resume this afternoon after the final day of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando was abandoned amid heavy storms.

The 37-year-old will regain the spot he has held for 623 weeks across his career if he wins the event at Bay Hill and, in the two holes he managed, he extended his lead from two shots to three. He was left kicking his heels for the rest of the day, though, with storms ransacking the course, blowing television cameras over and leaving the course unplayable.

With a wealth of experience behind him, Woods will not be unduly fazed by having to come back today. He will dislodge Rory McIlroy with a win, and a second-hole birdie means, at 12 under, he is three shots ahead of the chasing Keegan Bradley, Ken Duke, Rickie Fowler and John Huh.

Play resumes at 2pm today, with the Tavistock Cup, which is due to feature Woods and other members of the field, to be arranged accordingly around it.

“The golf course is gone, bunkers are gone. We’re going to need time for the course to drain,” PGA official Mike Russell said through the organisation’s Twitter account.

Sergio Garcia will not be teeing off in Orlando, though, with the Spaniard pulling out after a horror round yesterday.

At one point, he climbed into a tree to play out an errant ball and called time on his tournament not long after.

England’s Justin Rose also got through two holes, dropping another shot after his disappointing round yesterday to fall to eight under, while the round of the day belonged to Bubba Watson, who moved from one over to four under with a finishing 67.

Looking like his old imposing self, Woods had surged into the third round lead on Saturday. Four behind overnight leaders Rose and Bill Haas when the day began, Woods walked off the course to thundering cheers and in full command after returning a brilliant six-under 66 for a two-shot lead over compatriots John Huh (71) and Rickie Fowler (67) as well as Briton Rose (72).

Woods, who had a disastrous end to his second round on Friday with three consecutive bogeys, stumbled out of the gate on Saturday when he found the fairway bunker with his opening drive but his putter was working early and he dropped an 11-foot putt to save par.

To no-one’s great surprise, he soon discovered his comfort zone on one of his favourite layouts, mixing an eagle and five birdies with a single bogey.

Seven times, including last year, Woods has triumphed at “Arnie’s Place”. “Generally our schedules are such that once we figure out what golf courses we like, we tend to play them,” Woods told reporters. Life is good again for Woods, who announced last week that he was dating World Cup skier Lindsey Vonn. With all parts of his game coming together and his personal life back on track, Woods looks unstoppable heading into next month’s Masters.