There had been six runner-up finishes and 19 top-10s since Pettersen last won on tour, so she had to work hard to keep doubt from creeping in.

"You've got to believe you can do it," she said. "Don't fear anything, the door is wide open. You've just got to keep doing what you're doing. In that way, I usually use a lot of other sports and performances in kind of an inspirational way."

That included the encouraging text message from Woods and the U.S. Open tennis she watched each evening in her hotel room.

"This feels absolutely great," said Pettersen after her round. "I've been playing very good since 2007 (her last win) and have given myself a lot of chances to win tournaments, and like I've been saying, if you put yourself in position often enough, you'll figure out how to close the deal."

"It feels really good to win this one after last week's loss in the playoff. But, I mean, you never feel safe. I had a five-, six-shot lead at the time on the back nine, but you're playing against so good players. Like an eagle, a chip-in, everything is possible, so you've just got to make sure you can just stay on top of what you do and kind of try to still keep hitting aggressive shots. I kind of felt comfortable once I got that tee shot on 18. I knew I couldn't mess that one up."

"David Leadbetter said, 'It's got to start turning around. I mean, you're so close, be patient, it will turn around.' And just to have someone backing you and in your ear day-in and day-out, keep doing what you do, it is good enough. It helps. That's what it's all about, building a good team that works hard and kind of hopefully a successful team."

Pettersen vowed not to play conservatively with a big lead in the final round and made good on that promise - closing with a 1-under 70 at Priddis Greens for a five-shot victory over Momoko Ueda (65), Morgan Pressel (66), Ai Miyazato (67), Karrie Webb (69) and Angela Stanford (70).

Read More: Suzann Pettersen ends winless drought at Canadian Open (TheGolfChannel.com)