Tiger Woods convinced himself he could succeed with a 24-foot approach shot that saw him claim a dramatic victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando.

Woods hit the shot at the par-four 18th, before curling in his putt to edge Bart Bryant by one stroke at Bay Hill.

It was the only putt Woods holed from outside 20 feet all week, but nobody was at all surprised that Woods rose to the occasion when it really mattered to extend his six-month winning streak to six official tournaments — five on the PGA Tour, plus the European Tour's Dubai Desert Classic.

Woods' first priority was to lag his downhill, breaking putt to tap-in distance, but the longer he thought about it, the more he wanted to make it.

"I kept telling myself, 'I've done this before and I can do it again'," Woods said. "I was just trying to make sure I got the speed right. I felt good over the putt. I hit the putt down there and it took forever to start breaking, but once it started, it went straight right and in the hole."

It was Woods' 64th career victory on the PGA Tour, equal third on the all-time list with Ben Hogan, behind only Sam Snead (82) and Jack Nicklaus (73).

This was a more hard-fought victory than most recently, coming after a slow start, a seven-stroke halfway deficit and a tight battle down the stretch with Bart Bryant.

But Woods did what he had to do, shooting a final-round 66 to finish at 10-under-par 270, one stroke ahead of Bryant (67), with Cliff Kresge (67), Vijay Singh (69) and Sean O'Hair (69) another two strokes behind.

Woods will savour his latest victory more than most, although he is reluctant to compare.

"I don't know where it ranks," he said. "It was great to make the putt, but I was so excited with the five-iron I hit in there to give myself a putt at it.

"You have to understand I had not hit the ball well the last three days, and then to have that shot with everything on the line, and to hit a shot and give myself a putt at it, I was so fired up."