There is much that is startling about the career of Tiger Woods, not least the fact that before yesterday the world No 1 had won 50 of 56 tournaments worldwide in which he had held at least a share of the lead entering the final round.

Which is why, when he made up seven shots with a third round of 66 to draw level with four others at the top of the leaderboard at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill on Saturday, few expected anything other than a Woods victory — his seventh on the trot.

And yesterday Woods duly delivered in the only way he knows how — with a spectacular 30-foot birdie putt at the 18th that secured his 64th victory on the PGA Tour and relegated a journeyman by the name of Bart Bryant to a footnote in the record books.

It was the first time in seven years that Woods had holed a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win a tournament while playing in the final group. He rolled in a putt of similar length to deny Ernie Els at the Dubai Desert Classic last month, and, as ever, his timing was immaculate.

As the ball dropped into the middle of the hole, the celebrations it sparked were no less spectacular, Woods slamming his baseball cap into the ground, punching the air and roaring for all he was worth. It was reminiscent of his chip at the 16th hole at the Masters in 2005 and almost as memorable.

For Bryant it was a shattering blow. He had started the day level with Woods, on six under par, and played assured golf to set the clubhouse lead on nine under par. And as he waited in the scorer’s hut, he would have been expecting a sudden-death play-off, so tough is the 18th hole to birdie.

But he knew what everybody else knew: it was Woods who was chasing the birdie. And as the putt dropped, and the roars reached a crescendo, Bryant allowed himself a small chuckle. Woods had struggled all day with the long putts, but he conjured up an answer when he needed it most.

Woods had completed a round of 66 that included five birdies and just one dropped shot. It gave him a total of 270, ten under par, and victory by one shot over Bryant and three over Vijay Singh, Cliff Kresge and Sean O’Hair.

It was a result that brought him level with Ben Hogan in terms of PGA Tour victories and closing in on Jack Nicklaus, who won 73 times, and Sam Snead (82). He has won nine of his past ten tournaments dating back to July last year and, at this rate, he could pass Nicklaus before the year is out. He looks unbeatable.

From the moment the Tiger Roar rolled around the Florida course, when he took the outright lead for the first time in four days with a birdie at the 2nd, it was assumed that Woods would cruise to victory, but he found a challenger worthy of the name.

Bryant has been in such rarefied air before, having won the highly prized Tour Championship in 2005 (when, incidentally, he beat Woods into second place by six shots), and had the calm air of a veteran who had seen it all before. He has now.

“You’ve got to chuckle”, the 45-year-old said. “Nothing he does surprises me any more. Obviously, I’m extremely disappointed and really wanted to be in the play-off.”

Woods said: “All I kept telling myself [as I stood over the putt] was that I’ve done it before and could do it again.” And so he did.

Lee Westwood, two shots off the lead at the start, dropped four shots in his first six holes. He had a round of 72 and fell from tied seventh to a share of 17th place.