The driver got Woods into trouble on the par-5 16th, though, when he found himself deep in the trees to the right. He punched back into the fairway, launched a 3-iron over the green and failed to get up and down from the precarious perch.

Cink, meanwhile, seized the opportunity Woods handed him with a 16-foot birdie there and a 22-footer at the next to force the playoff. He couldn't capitalize on the third extra hole, though, when Woods was unable to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker.

Cink missed his 8-foot par putt there, and Woods isn't known for giving second chances. The heavens opened up as he hit his approach to 8 feet and Cink put his in the bunker. He blasted out of the wet sand but never got to putt as Woods made his for the win.

"My hairline used to be further up," Woods said, pushing his hat and grinning. "Days like today, you understand why it's doing the moon walk.

"I'm just happy to come out on top because I didn't really have any game today and I was just trying to hang around with my putter, and I did that today on the back nine.

"All in all, very lucky.

Woods, who had made an all-but-unprecedented four straight bogeys on Saturday, said he was still trying to piece together his swing in the final round. When it wasn't performing up to par, Woods relied on that abundance of will that has set him apart so many times.

"Wins like this show what you have inside," Woods said. "You don't really have it physically, and you just somehow get yourself to execute a shot properly, somehow find something, and that's not always easy.

"But I've done it before, and I've been successful. So I've kept drawing upon my experiences in the past and just trying to hang in there somehow."

Woods joined Cink and the rest of his Ryder Cup teammates on a charter to Ireland Sunday night. He had to rearrange his schedule to go and will return the day before the Deutsche Bank Championship, which benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation, begins.

Woods will be going for a fifth straight victory in Boston next weekend. For now, though, he wants to see what he can do to help his teammates as the U.S. tries to win the Ryder Cup for first time since 1999.

"It was important for all of us to get together and be together and to gel as a team," Woods said. "Some of the guys have never played there and I've played there more than anybody else on the team.... Hopefully Tom will pair me up with those guys and I'll help them out if I can.

"Whether it sends a strong message or not, our whole deal is to come together, gain experience, gain some knowledge on the golf course and be ready to play come time for the Cup. "As we all know, it's not about sending messages; it's all about making putts and executing and making 2s, 3s and 4s, nothing higher."

Just like he did on Sunday.