I was there: Tiger's win at the 2008 Arnold Palmer Inv't

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After sinking his 24-foot putt for the win at Bay Hill, Tiger celebrated by tossing his cap -- although he doesn't remember it.

What's it like to be there in person when Tiger Woods win a PGA TOUR event? As part of our Tiger Woods Victory Room, we asked several members of our PGATOUR.COM team to give us their thoughts on a Tiger win they attended in person. Have you seen a Tiger victory up close? Just click here to e-mail us and we'll post the best ones.

'I was there'

MAGINNES: '96 Las Vegas Inv't
HAUSER: '97 Masters
AUCLAIR: '03 Bay Hill Inv't
DOLCH: '05 Ford Champ.
ROSS: '06 British Open
WACKER: '06 PGA Champ.
AWTREY: '08 Arnold Palmer Inv't
McALLISTER: '08 U.S. Open
Tiger Woods Victory Room

Not all of the major championships won by Tiger Woods have been filled with excitement.

The two that I personally witnessed were far from thrilling: the 2002 yawnfest at Augusta National (an unchallenged three-shot win over Retief Goosen) and the 2006 PGA Championship at Medinah (a five-shot win over an overwhelmed field).

That's why the 2008 victory that Tiger posted at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard was such a pleasure to watch. It was one of those rare instances when another accomplished player went toe-to-toe with Woods and forced him to perform an unworldly act, this time with the final stroke of the tournament.

Woods came to the 72nd hole tied with Bart Bryant, who was signing his scorecard in the trailer under the bleachers at the 18th hole. Tiger hit his approach shot to 24 feet, 2 inches above the pin, in a location that's impossible to hole.

Unless you're Tiger Woods.

Tiger stroked the putt and it tracked its way into the cup. Woods slam-dunked his cap on the green -- which he later said he never remembered doing -- and began a series of spastic high-fives with caddie Steve Williams. It was the first putt longer than 18 feet that he had made all week.

Bryant heard the crowd's reaction when Tiger's putt dropped in. He listened as the roars built to a crescendo, thanked the volunteers and walked across the street and into the clubhouse.

"I was pretty hopeless sitting there in the trailer," Bryant said. "But I did what I thought I was supposed to do, which was put the pressure back on Tiger to make the play, and he has a habit of making it when he needs to."

The win was the 64th PGA TOUR victory for Tiger, which matched the career mark set by Ben Hogan. Other wins had more meaning, but few could match the drama -- at least until he did it again on the 72nd hole the following year at Arnie's place.

Stan Awtrey, who writes a weekly column for PGATOUR.COM, is the former golf writer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.