ORLANDO, Fla. -- 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.

Woods finally brought the buzz back to the very thing that made him famous -- winning.

Two weeks after another injury scare, Woods looked dominant as ever in that bright red shirt to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. It was his first PGA Tour victory since a sex scandal at the end of 2009 led to one of the greatest downfalls in sports.

And with the Masters only two weeks away, Woods looks more capable than ever of resuming his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus in the majors.

Woods closed with a 2-under 70 and won by five shots over Graeme McDowell.

"I think he really just kind of nailed home his comeback," McDowell said. "Great to have a front-row seat watching maybe the greatest of all-time doing what he does best -- winning golf tournaments."

Woods had gone 923 days and 26 tour events since he last posed with a trophy, and it showed.

Kneeling to look at his line as he waited his turn to putt on the 18th, Woods tapped his putter on the ground and could barely contain a grin, knowing that the longest PGA Tour drought of his career was about to end. When he tapped in for par, he clenched his fist, screamed out, "Yeah!" and hugged his caddie, Joe LaCava.

Walking off the green, Woods extended his black cap for a sweeping wave toward the gallery.

"It's not like winning a major championship or anything," Woods said. "But it certainly feels really good."