It appeared to be the battle golf had been waiting for—a resurgent Tiger Woods duking it out with Rory McIlroy at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday.

That changed when Woods, who was within a shot of the lead, hit a ball out of bounds on the 16^th hole at Bayhill, and McIlroy poured in five birdies in the last six holes to pull off a three-shot victory over Bryson DeChambeau. Woods finished in a tie for fifth, eight shots back after making bogey on the 16^th and 17^th holes.

Woods, whose return from back surgery includes three consecutive strong finishes, said he couldn’t determine which way to approach the tee shot on the short par 5 16^th.

“I wasn’t committed to what I was going to do,” he said following the round. “If I hit driver I have to hit it with a cut. Back of my mind I said, ‘Why don’t you just bomb it over the top?’ So in the back of my mind I’m running through these different scenarios and it’s on me—I didn’t commit to either one of those three shots and I hit a poor one.”

McIlroy on the other hand, shot a stunning 31 on the back nine, to finish at 64 on the day, well ahead of players like DeChambeau and Henrik Stenson, who desperately tried to keep pace as the Irishman pulled away. It was the first strong finish for McIlroy, a former World No. 1, this season. McIlroy credited some of his sudden success to a putting lesson from Brad Faxon, and the fact that his game was closer to rounding into form than many thought.

“I think golf is so fickle and you’re never far away from … at least I feel I’m never far away from producing golf like what I did today,” McIlroy said. “But on the flip side, I don’t think you’re ever far away from producing mediocre golf as well. It’s such a fine line out here … I think you have to play the game to really appreciate that. It’s not as black and white as some people make it out to be.”

Canadian Mackenzie Hughes made the cut, but a final round of 73 saw him finish in a tie for 54^th.

Rory McIlroy: What’s in the bag

• Driver: TaylorMade M3 460 Driver | 8.5° | Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei CK Pro Orange 70X
• 3-Wood: TaylorMade M3 Fairway | 15° | Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei CK Pro White 80X
• 5-Wood: TaylorMade M3 Fairway | 19° | Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei CK Pro White 80X
• Irons: TaylorMade P750 Tour Proto (4-iron, True Temper Project X 7.0), P730 Rors Proto Irons (5-9 irons,  True Temper Project X 7.0)
• Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind Wedges | 48°, 52° & 58° and 60° Hi-Toe (True Temper Project X 7.0)
• Putter: TaylorMade TP Collection Copper Soto Prototype Putter – Available at Golf Town late April
• Ball: TaylorMade TP5X Golf Ball (#22)