Posts tagged Camilo Villegas at FanHouse

Golf season starts tomorrow, which means it is time to actually start thinking of the best game with dimples. While the giants take a nap, others will play at the Mercedes Championship, and golf will be around the rest of the year. FanHouse spent a couple of minutes thinking what is to come in 2009. Here is what transpired.

Which golfer will be the first to break through in the Majors?
A lot of the time this is overlooked, but look back a few years ago to Tiger's first full year on tour. The guy won his first-ever start in a major as a professional. With Tiger, the monkey never even had a chance to find a nice place to rest on his back. How long did it take for Tiger to win number two? Eleven major championships. Yeah, it isn't nearly as easy as he makes it seem now.

What I'm trying to say with all of this is that winning a major championship is really, really, really tough and as Sergio Garcia (and Phil Mickelson a few years back) can tell you, if you don't get one early, then the questions about "When will it happen?" start to stir around.

Garcia has gone 38 majors as a professional without a victory. That might seem like a tremendously long time until you think of some of the talented guys that took a while to win their first big one. Vijay Singh didn't get his until his 27th major. Fred Couples went 34 until he took the 1992 Masters. Tom Kite played in 67 majors before taking his 1992 U.S. Open crown.

Garcia is in panic mode but he's still young (in golf terms) and has enough talent to open the floodgates in the major championship sense.

Along with him, Anthony Kim is due to take one of these as a youngster, as well as Hunter Mahan, Adam Scott, Aaron Baddeley and Camilo Villegas.

Interesting stat to close all this up and make it apparent how hard it is to win a major: Out of the top 10 in the Official World Rankings, five have won majors, five have not.

Golf season starts tomorrow, which means it is time to actually start thinking of the best game with dimples. While the giants take a nap, others will play at the Mercedes Championship, and golf will be around the rest of the year. FanHouse spent a couple of minutes thinking what is to come in 2009. Here is what transpired.

It all starts tomorrow, people. The 2009 PGA season gets underway at the Mercedes Championship. Except that four of last year's champs -- who also happen to be the four best players in the world -- won't be there. Tiger, Sergio, Phil and Paddy are skipping out on the free trip to Hawaii, although I suspect the other 33 players in the field aren't complaining.

Last season, Anthony Kim and, to a lesser extent (because we've known about him for a while ... and because Brinson has some worries), Camilo Villegas emerged as "the latest young golfer who will supposedly challenge Tiger Woods." And to be fair, both had a lot success. While they continue the seemingly impossible task of supplanting Woods atop the rankings, there are other young players hoping to do the same. The difference: we haven't heard much about them. Until now, anyway. Here's a look at five guys to watch as '09 unfolds.

Golf season starts tomorrow, which means it is time to actually start thinking of the best game with dimples. While the giants take a nap, others will play at the Mercedes Championship, and golf will be around the rest of the year. FanHouse spent a couple of minutes thinking what is to come in 2009. Here is what transpired.

1. Tiger Woods
Yes, that's right. I said it. Tiger. Freaking. Woods. It's stupid of me to even suggest it and I'm pretty sure I might be the only person not picking him to win 40 tournaments and maybe five majors. And it's only because he's coming back from major (No pun intended. Seriously. Stop it.) surgery and, well, regardless of his injuries, expectations are going to be high.

He did, after all, win the US Open with stumpy legs, yellow teeth and an issue with obesity. Oh, wait. That was Johnny Miller. But still -- Tiger did it on one leg. Look, he's going to be good/great/Tiger-style this year, and he's going to win tournaments, but that ridiculous moment will cause people to be disappointed if he doesn't win the Grand Slam.

2. Sergio Garcia
The title of "Best Player Never to Win a Major" (BPNTWAM) is fairly ridiculous when you think about it. Some golfers are very good, some are great and some choke under pressure because they're wearing lavender shirts on Sunday. Sergio isn't in the first class, but he's talented as hell. Yet, if he wins a major, guess what? You got it -- someone else takes the title. But it won't happen this year. Pressure is a B on lavender.

Golf is resting from a long, grueling season and rest it shall; it was a doozie of a 2008. We had some of the same old names winning consistently, some of the same old names losing consistently and a list of new golfers sure to find their way in golf conversation for years to come. Without further ado, here are your winners and losers of the 2008 PGA Tour Season.

Winners

Padraig Harrington -- With all respect to Tiger Woods and what he accomplished early this season, Harrington is our player of the year and for good reason. Padraig won two major championship in a row, making it three of the last six, and trying his best to accomplish what Sergio Garcia once said his goal was, to top both the PGA Tour money list and the Order of Merit in Europe. Harrington's second shot on the 17th hole at Royal Birkdale was one of the better executed shots of the year considering the pressure, setting up a Claret clinching eagle and repeating at the Open.

Alright, alright, alright. You guys win. I wrote this about Camilo Villegas as a joke a month and two days ago about him never really winning and such, and then the dude decided to blow up and win everything. I'm a moron, all of you out there are smart, I'm ugly, you're good-looking, lets leave it at that.

Villegas took home the Tour Championship today for his second victory in a row on the PGA Tour, beating Sergio Garcia on the first playoff hole to take home his second straight $1.26 million cash prize.

The win puts the Colombian star, very quietly, 6th in the world rankings and a runner-up finish (and $3 million!) in the FedEx Cup final point standings. Villegas is obviously a perfect star for the PGA Tour, both with the bulging muscles and the flowing South American hair. The problem was he couldn't win a tournament, finishing in the top-3 five times the last two years without a trophy. Camilo said he attributes the two wins to his practice schedule.

"I cannot emphasize how hard I've worked," Villegas said.

Villegas needed a four-under 66 on the tough East Lake Golf Club to get himself in a playoff with Garcia, who struggled to a one-over 71 before making bogey on the first playoff hole to lose. It was Sergio's third runner-up finish of the season to only one win, which could be considered a disappointing year for the Spaniard.

Since the Tiger effect caused PGA Tour purses to boom, golfers from around the world have flocked to American soil to get a little taste of the green. For the first time since Tiger Woods hit the scene in 1996, golfers might be leaving the states, at least more than usual, to try their hand in the European version of the FedEx Cup.

Starting next season, the European Tour's Order of Merit, the fancy name for money list, will be renamed the Race to Dubai and will conclude in, you guessed it, Dubai at the Dubai World Championships. The amount of money to the winner has already grabbed the attention of such elite names as Adam Scott and Vijay Singh and could even snag American Phil Mickelson. To qualify, a player will have to compete in 11 European Tour sanctioned events.

"I plan to play 11 and if I qualify for Dubai, I'm obviously going to play that as well," said the 45-year-old from Fiji, who won the first two play-off events before finishing equal 44th behind winner Camilo Villegas at the BMW Championship in St Louis.

Singh is already a European Tour member but he played in only eight events last year, and has made only eight so far this year, so the lure of the Race to Dubai seems to be proving the attraction the tour was hoping for.

Maybe some point soon, the brainiacs behind the FedEx Cup will find a way to make it relevant. As it stands, the four-event playoff was decided after two weeks, when Vijay Singh had back-to-back overtime victories. Which made Camilo Villegas' victory at today's BMW the equivalent of a Week 17 win for an NFL team already headed to the postseason.

But the third leg of the FedEx Cup wasn't without drama, thanks to Singh:

...Singh, who won the first two events, tied for 44th and earned enough points that all he has to do is complete four rounds at the Tour Championship in two weeks to collect the $10 million payoff. But the surly Singh didn't seem terribly grateful.

In a move that took some shine off the tour's new prize, Singh refused to speak to NBC Sports and walked briskly past a group of other media after finishing his round.

You know, Vijay is known as much for his prickly demeanor as he is for his tireless work ethic and horrendous putting stroke, but I have a hard time getting too worked up about him blowing off the media after an event.

And, frankly, I'm not sure how he's being ungrateful by refusing to give NBC a couple minutes. Not unless they had something to do with him winning twice in two weeks. Otherwise, what's the problem? Could Singh have handled it better? Yeah, sure. But at least he didn't dust off the ole "kiss my ass, everybody" routine on his way to the parking lot.

A lot of "experts" talk about Camilo Villegas like he is still one of the next big stars. The thing is, the extremely good looking, muscular, Colombian hero who probably lands more women than a Gynecology waiting room doesn't really ever win. Honestly, he's probably best known for the maneuver he's doing in the picture that is supposed to help him reads putts better (?).

On Tuesday, Villegas fans can take solace in his victory at a skins game event, where he took home the gold with a chip-off against Vijay Singh, Mike Weir, Stewart Cink and Notah Begay III.

The rising Colombian star won a chipoff Tuesday against Singh, Weir, Cink, and Begay III to walk away with top money at the inaugural Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge at Turning Stone Resort's Atunyote Golf Club.

Villegas' winning pitch on the extra hole of the skins game competition boosted his earnings for the day to $220,000. Singh won two holes to finish with $180,000, and Cink finished with one skin worth $100,000 from the total purse of $500,000.

Now I know what you're probably asking yourself, so let me answer all the fuzziness for you. Yes, a chip-off is the lamest thing possible to decide the victor. The only thing worse than that is tossing a tee in the air and seeing who it points to. Yes, like you I was about a month away from totally forgetting who Notah Begay was. Yes, there could be a more random five-some on the PGA Tour, but not by much (I'm picturing a little K.J. Choi, Ian Poulter and Fuzzy Zoeller).

I guess the budding star that is Villegas will have this to hang his hat on. Sure, he's been on tour for three seasons without a victory, but the next time he is in that situation, I'm sure this chip-off victory will be that experience he's needed to finally pull through.

With a golf course playing as tough as Oakland Hills this week, red figures are few and far between.

Camilo Villegas and company are trying to change that. The flashy Florida Gator is five-under on his round today through 13 holes, taking the "just hit it close all day" approach to championship golf.

Villegas is joined by Graeme McDowell and Andres Romero as a couple of foriegn-born golfers using birdies as acceleration to pass a number of people on their way up the leaderboard. Camilo is having the best round of the tournament today, making five birdies and no bogeys, including a putt on the par-3 13th that was heading for the left lip but got rejected like Dikembe Mutombo had taken up this crazy game.

The Colombian known more for his looks and phsique than his golf game had never played up to his standards in majors until this year's U.S. Open, where he finished a career-high ninth at Torrey Pines. A man that can always make a load of birdies (ninth of tour this sesaon with 3.68 a round), Villegas is still searching for his first win on tour.

Posting one or two over in the clubhouse today before the leaders head out sure would look good coming 9 PM tonight. With the wind picking up and the weather appearing to worsen as the day progresses, Villegas could make tons of waves if he could get through Oakland Hill's personal Amen Corner, 16, 17 and 18.

UPDATE: Of course, right when I post this, Villegas makes a bogey on 14. We bloggers should get a real job.

If anyone expected Greg Norman to actually act like a 53-year-old today at the British Open, you'll have to wait another day.

The Shark fired a second consecutive even-par 70 and is leading the British Open by a shot over a red hot Camilo Villegas.

"I've got myself in a position where I have to be a little more careful on some things and more relaxed with some things," Norman said after his round. "I have to keep myself very subdued and very relaxed."

The story has been his putter this week, which is probably the only warm thing at all of Royal Birkdale. Three birdies, including a bomb on the seventh hole, offset his double-bogey on the sixth hole and a very disappointing bogey on the par-5 17th, maybe the only true "birdie" hole on the course.

A lengthy par putt on the 18th dropped to keep Norman at level par and had the crowd in an absolute uproar.

If it wasn't for the finish of Villegas, who birdied his last five holes on his way to a 65, Norman could really build a lead with the weather looking to worsen in the afternoon.

If you're looking for a great story with Tiger Woods on the couch, you've got it. A man known for bad breaks and late major chokes, the Shark has put himself in the best position since a sixth place finish in 1999.

Mr. Norman, welcome back to the party, here's a red cup, kegs in the corner.