DORAL, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods is hitting his stride on a march to the Masters.

Woods had full control of his game Sunday and never let anyone get closer than three shots until he had locked up his 17th World Golf Championship title. With a conservative bogey that didn’t matter on the final hole, he closed with a 1-under 71 to win the Cadillac Championship.

For the first time in five years, Woods has two wins before the Masters.

It was one year ago at Doral that Woods withdrew after 11 holes in the final round because of tightness in his left Achilles tendon, creating uncertainty about his health and whether he could ever get his game back.

False alarm.

Woods has won five times in the last year, the most of anyone in the world, and he can return to No. 1 with a win at Bay Hill in two weeks.

He won by two shots over Steve Stricker, who might want to claim a share of this trophy.

Stricker spent 45 minutes on the putting green with Woods on the eve of the tournament, helping him with his posture over putts. Woods made 27 birdies this week, one short of his personal best on the PGA Tour.

”Thank you to Steve for the putting lesson,” Woods said at the trophy presentation. ”It was one of those weeks where I felt pretty good about how I was playing, made a few putts and got it rolling.”

Stricker, playing a part-time schedule, picked up his second runner-up finish in just three starts. He closed with a 68, and had no regrets about offering Woods some help.

”At times you kick yourself,” Stricker said with a laugh. ”He’s a good friend. We talk a lot about putting. It’s good to see him playing well.”

The Masters is a month away, and Woods is sure to be the favorite.

Rory McIlroy, the No. 1 player in the world, showed signs of recovering from his rough start to the season. He had a 65 and tied for eighth.

Woods won in January at Torrey Pines by four shots. He won for the fourth time at Doral, making this the seventh golf course where he has won at least four times.

Graeme McDowell, who started the final round four shots behind, made a birdie on the opening hole, but never got any closer. McDowell had third place to himself until he went for the green on the 18th hole and found the water. He made double bogey, shot 72 and fell into a four-way tie for third that cost him $172,500.

Phil Mickelson (71), Sergio Garcia (69) and Adam Scott (64) also tied for third.

Woods improved to 40-2 on the PGA Tour when he had the outright lead going into the final round, the last two wins with McDowell at his side. Woods last won while ahead at Bay Hill a year ago.

”The way Tiger was playing, I was always in chase mode,” McDowell said. ”He was always going to be a tough guy to catch. Fair play to him. He played fantastic golf the last couple of days.”

Woods finished minus 19 at 269 and earned $1.5 million in winning this World Golf Championship for the seventh time.

McIlroy’s week ended on a happy note.

Not only did he finish the tournament, he might have turned the corner with a bogey-free 65. McIlroy opened with a 7-iron into 18 feet for eagle, which he called one of the best shots he hit. He shot a 32 on the back nine for a round that surprised him considering how far away he felt when he arrived at Doral.

”Just goes to show, it’s not as far away as you think,” McIlroy said. ”That’s been one of my problems. I always think when I’m playing bad that it’s further away than it is. That’s just where I have to stay patient … and know that if I put in the hard work, that the results will bear fruit. Whether that’s sooner or later, it doesn’t really matter.”

McIlroy said he won’t add a tournament the next two weeks, returning at the Houston Open before going to the Masters. He is signed up for the member-guest a week from Monday at The Medalist Club, presumably as the guest of former NBA great Michael Jordan.

”He’s asked me, so depending on what my schedule is and where I have to be … we’ll see,” he said.

Scott had the low round of the tournament with eight birdies in his round of 64.

That’s what McDowell, Mickelson and Stricker would have needed to have any chance of catching Woods. As he did early in third round, McDowell gave it his best shot, only to have Woods answer on every occasion.

McDowell two-putted for birdie on the par-5 opening hole as Woods blasted a shot from a buried lie at the back of the green well past the pin and off the green. He had to chip close just to save par. McDowell hit his approach on the second hole to 7 feet and looked as if he might pick up another shot.

In what might have been the most significant putt Woods made, he buried an 18-footer for birdie.

That’s how it went all weekend. Woods never gave anyone a chance, and he didn’t give anyone much hope. His lead was back to four shots, he hit an 8-iron to 4 feet on the par-3 fourth hole, and no one seriously challenged him the rest of the way.

Mickelson hit a 200-yard shot into the breeze and over the water to a foot for a tap-in birdie on the par-5 eighth to get within four shots with 10 holes to play. He missed far too many short putts, however, making bogey on the ninth and 11th holes to fall too far back to matter.

That allowed another easy walk up the 18th hole for Woods to collect another WGC title, another seven-figure check, and offer another reminder that he is closer than ever to getting back to the top of golf.

Woods now has won over $24 million in the WGCs alone since the series began in 1999, winning 43 percent of the tournaments. This was his 76th career win on tour, leaving him six short of the record 82 wins by Sam Snead.

(Sports Network) – After getting swept by Florida in the 2011-12 season series, the Montreal Canadiens will try to return the favor when they visit the Panthers for Sunday’s test at BankAtlantic Center.

Viewers in the Canadiens region can watch the game on TSN Canadiens at 6pm et/7pm at. The game is also available on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal and TSN.ca/Montreal.

Florida went 4-0 against the Canadiens last season, but the Habs have taken the first two of three scheduled encounters in 2013.

Montreal earned a 4-1 home win over the Panthers on Jan. 22 and then posted a 1-0 overtime victory Feb. 14 at Sunrise. Rene Bourque scored the game winner and the only goal of that February meeting at the 2:10 mark of overtime and Carey Price turned aside 26 shots for the shutout.

The Canadiens have won three of their last five contests at Florida.

Montreal enters Sunday on a two-game win streak and has picked up victories in three of its last four trips to the ice. The Canadiens played Saturday evening in Tampa and earned a 4-3 comeback win against the Lightning.

Brendan Gallagher scored the game winner with just under eight minutes left in the third, as the Habs used a three-goal final frame to earn two points at Tampa Bay Times Forum. Montreal is still one point ahead of Boston for first place in the Northeast Division.

Brian Gionta added a goal and an assist Saturday, while Tomas Plekanec and Alexei Emelin each scored once for the Canadiens, who improved to 3-1 on a five-game road trip and 8-2-2 as the guest this season.

“It’s nice that we rallied late in the game, but we can’t allow ourselves to get in those holes in the first place,” said Gionta.

Price posted 20 saves in the victory and he could get a fourth straight start on Sunday. Price is 5-4-1 with a 1.88 goals against average in 10 career games against the Panthers.

After closing out their road trip in Sunrise, the Canadiens are off until Wednesday’s home test against Ottawa.

Meanwhile, the Panthers, who sit last in the Eastern Conference with 20 points, have lost two straight and five of their last six games. Florida was able to record a point in its most recent trip to the ice, losing a 3-2 overtime decision Friday against visiting Winnipeg. Dustin Byfuglien scored the game winner for the Jets with 40.5 seconds left in OT.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Shawn Matthias each scored once, while Jacob Markstrom allowed all three goals on 28 shots for the Panthers, who fell to 1-6 this season in OT/shootout games.

“Overtime has been a real Achilles’ heel for us,” Panthers coach Kevin Dineen admitted. “You lose five games at home in overtime, that’s disappointing for our players and for our fan base.”

Florida is playing the middle test of a three-game homestand on Sunday before closing it Tuesday against Tampa Bay. The Panthers are 4-5-5 at home after dropping three of their last four in Sunrise.

VICTORIA – Steven Hodges scored twice and set up one more on Friday as the Victoria Royals downed the visiting Vancouver Giants 5-3 in Western Hockey League action.

The victory was the Royals fourth in a row against the Giants, but more importantly it snapped an 11-game winless streak. Victoria’s last win came back on Feb. 10th against the Spokane Chiefs and during their drought, both the Chiefs and Tri-City Americans passed them in the Western Conference standings, dropping them to sixth.

Ben Walker and Brandon Magee each had a goal and an assist for the Royals (33-27-7), who scored just 22 goals in their 11 straight losses, while Jamie Crooks chipped in with two assists.

Jack Walker added a single goal to round out Victoria’s offence.

Cain Franson had a goal and two assists for the Giants (19-47-2), who fell to 7-26-2 on the road, and Tyler Morrison and Alec Baer had a goal apiece.

Back-up goaltender Coleman Vollrath made 28 saves for his first win since Dec. 29th. Jared Rathjen turned away 24-of-28 shots in a losing cause.

Victoria went 0 for 4 on the power play while Vancouver scored once on four chances with the man advantage.

SUNRISE, Fla. – Dustin Byfuglien scored with 40.5 seconds left in overtime and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Friday night.

Byfuglien brought the puck across to the right circle and his wrist shot whistled past Jacob Markstrom.

Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd also scored for Winnipeg. Ladd also had an assist and has three goals and four assists in the last five games for the Jets.

Ondrej Pavelec made 38 saves.

Shawn Matthias and Jonathan Huberdeau scored goals for Florida and Jacob Markstrom stopped 25 shots.

The Jets have won five of their past seven games. The Panthers have lost five of six.

West Virginia’s Geno Smith might be viewed as the best quarterback prospect in the 2013 NFL Draft, but NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock shook up the landscape Thursday when he propelled Florida State’s EJ Manuel to No. 2 on his top-five list of signal-callers.

Breer: 2013 QB class unsettled

Think Geno Smith is a lock to be the first QB drafted? Think again. Albert Breer says Matt Barkley still has time to climb. More …

Another passer gaining steam? How about Matt Scott, the 6-foot-2, 213-pounder out of Arizona.

NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah noted Thursday that Scott has teams intrigued. “Buzz is building,” Jeremiah tweeted. “According to a good source, he has several private workouts on tap.”

Scott’s timing is right on the money. This year’s crop of passing prospects is widely regarded as mundane, but the free-agent market is equally thin. With Matt Moore off the list, teams are looking at a menu of David Garrard, Jason Campbell and Brady Quinn, among equally bland fare. Chase Daniel is intriguing, but thin pickings could mean a player like Scott goes earlier than expected.

Scott has been praised for his velocity and accuracy. Scouts have talked about his ability to thread the needle and it’s clear teams — every one of them, looking for that diamond in the rough — wants to find that guy they can pluck closer to the third round than the first. Considering the circumstances, Scott might not last that long.

Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.