AKRON, Ohio — Ten years to the day, Tiger Woods asked a publicist for IMG to dictate a statement to the PGA Tour that changed the landscape in golf more than anyone could have imagined.

"This is to confirm that, as of now, I am a professional golfer."

Woods celebrated that 10-year anniversary Sunday at the Bridgestone Invitational with the 52nd victory of his career. He took a three-shot lead with a burst of birdies, blew a three-shot lead with three holes to play, then made an 8-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff to outlast Ryder Cup teammate Stewart Cink.

"It was kind of a roller coaster out there in a sense," Woods said.

Not so for his career. His decade on the PGA Tour has strictly been an upward cycle.

Woods sat next to the trophy — his fourth in a row and sixth in 13 starts this season — as Bridgestone Invitational tournament director Tom Strong leaned against a wall and reminisced.

Strong was the tournament director at the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1996 and offered Woods a sponsor's exemption for him to launch his professional career. To see Woods posing with another trophy was hard to fathom.

"You knew he had special talent," Strong said. "But who knew that he could be where he is today?"

Woods won the PGA Championship last week for his 12th career major, moving past Walter Hagen and into second place on the all-time list behind Jack Nicklaus and his 18. The victory at Firestone allowed him to join Byron Nelson in fifth place for career victories, trailing only Arnold Palmer (62), Ben Hogan (64), Nicklaus (73) and Sam Snead (82).

Cink, 33, also remembers Woods turning pro. He tries to forget his prediction.

"I told everybody he's going to have a hard time getting his card," Cink said with a laugh. "I think he ended up winning one or two and getting in the Tour Championship. I stopped making predictions about Tiger at that point, and I'm not going to do it now."

Cink had a one-shot lead going into the final round, and it was a four-man race for much of the day.

Jim Furyk holed a 40-foot birdie at No. 9 to share the lead, only to fall back by three-putting the 10th. He shot 68 and finished one shot out of the playoff, his seventh time in the top three on the PGA Tour this year. Paul Casey of England also was tied for the lead until he missed too many fairways and made too many bogeys. He shot 71 and finished three behind.

That left Woods (68) and Cink (69) to provide the drama, and they didn't disappoint.

Woods made three quick birdies to build the lead, then made bogey from the trees on the par-5 16th. That gave new life to Cink, who birdied the 16th from 15 feet for a two-shot swing, then caught Woods with a 20-foot birdie on the 17th.

They finished at 10-under 270.

The advantage went to Cink throughout the playoff, as dark clouds gathered. Three times, Cink stood over a shot to win — a 20-foot chip from just off the green at No. 18, an 18-foot birdie putt on No. 17, and an 8-foot par putt on the 18th, the third extra hole.

He missed them all, and that was all Woods needed.

"You don't know how many chances you're going to have to beat Tiger in a playoff in your career," Cink said.

Woods improved to 10-1 in playoffs, finally delivering about the time it started raining again. From 166 yards in the 17th fairway, he hit 8-iron that covered the flag and stopped 8 feet away.

"Just end this thing now," Woods said he told himself on the birdie putt at No. 17. "If I make mine, it's over."

And it was.

The large gallery went home wet, tired and well-entertained. Cink had three chances to win, but Woods did well just to make par on the 18th twice in a playoff, escaping from thick rough behind the green and a bunker some 40 feet short of the hole.

"It was a great environment, a lot of energy," Cink said. "Outside of maybe the Ryder Cup and a playoff in a major, there's really no better environment to play."

Woods and Cink shared a stage, and soon shared a plane.

Cink was a captain's pick a week ago and was trying to repeat history — the last time he was picked for the U.S. team, he won at Firestone the next week. He still showed enough form that surely pleased captain Tom Lehman.

The entire U.S. team — Woods and Phil Mickelson rearranged their schedules to join them — boarded a charter Sunday night for Ireland, where they planned to play two days at The K Club.

Woods now has won at Firestone more than any other golf course on the PGA Tour.