Woods, who was playing one group ahead of Daly, actually didn’t know the two were tied until he was about to hit his second shot on the 18th hole in regulation. Both he and Daly had birdie chances there from 19 and 17 feet, respectively, but neither putt fell so they went back to the same tee for the first hole of sudden death.

Two huge drives -- Daly’s went 357 yards and Woods’ traveled 346 -- could only produce pars, though, so it was off to the decisive 17th. When all was over, the champion saw only more validation for the swing changes he underwent two years ago.

“Obviously you saw I didn't really have any best stuff this week, but I still hung in there with my mind and putted beautifully and hit good shots when I really had to,” Woods said. “It was nice. You know, all the naysayers said that I was doing the wrong things. They can understand why now I made those changes.

“I've really worked hard to get to this point, to a point where I can compete. Each and every week I feel as if I just play my game, I should have a chance come the back nine, and that's where you want to get to.”

The victory was Woods’ sixth of the season and fourth in the seven-year history of the American Express Championship. With the victory, Woods increased his TOUR-leading earnings to more than $9.9 million -- and well within reach of Vijay Singh's single season record of $10,905,166 with two events remaining on his schedule.

Colin Montgomerie, who tied for third with Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson, also put his earnings to good use. He regained the lead on the European Tour Order of Merit for the first time since his seven-year reign there ended in 1999. He will play two of the next three weeks in hopes of being on top at the end of the season.