Camilo Villegas
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| Camilo Villegas | |
 |
|
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Camilo Villegas Restrepo |
| Born | 7 January 1982 Medellín, Colombia |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Weight | 160 lb (73 kg; 11 st) |
| Nationality |  Colombia |
| Residence | Jupiter, Florida, U.S. |
| Career | |
| College | University of Florida |
| Turned professional | 2004 |
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour (joined 2006) European Tour (joined 2009) |
| Professional wins | 7 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 2 |
| Japan Golf Tour | 1 |
| Other | 4 |
| Best results in Major Championships |
|
| The Masters | T13: 2009 |
| U.S. Open | T9: 2008 |
| Open Championship | T39: 2008 |
| PGA Championship | T4: 2008 |
Camilo Villegas (born 7 January 1982) is a Colombian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the European Tour.
Villegas was born in Medellín, Colombia, and took up the game as a child. After several different National Junior Championships in Colombia in the ages between 8 - 15, at 16 he became the first player in Colombian golf history to win the Amateur's Grand Slam in the same year: The National Junior Championship (stroke play), the National Junior Championship (match play), the National Amateur Championship, and the Colombian Open in the amateur category. Then, in 2001 he became only the second player to win the Colombian Open as an amateur. His success in Colombian golf throughout the 1990s earned him the distinction of "Player of the Decade" issued by the Colombian Golf Federation.
Villegas earned a scholarship to play collegiate golf at the University of Florida. He was a three-time All American there, and was the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year in 2002 and 2004.
Villegas is known for his commitment to physical fitness, and says his mentor and inspiration is golf icon Gary Player. They have just starred together in a new MasterCard "priceless" commercial.
In the June 2006 issue of Golf Digest he was named "the sexiest player on tour, Tiger Woods included."[1] He has also gained notoriety for sporting flashy dress clothing by designer J. Lindeberg.
An alumnus of the University of Florida, Villegas frequently visits the University of Florida golf course when he is spending time in his home town of Gainesville, Florida. He resides in Jupiter, Florida.
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[edit] Professional career
Villegas began playing on the PGA Tour in 2004 and earned his PGA Tour card just prior to the 2006 season. He had a blistering start to his 2006 rookie year on tour, with two second place finishes and a third place (at The Players Championship) in his first nine events. He missed making the 2006 Masters Tournament in his rookie year by a single position on the Official PGA Tour Money List (11th). However, he made his first Masters' appearance in 2007 by finishing in the top 40 of the Official PGA Tour Money List for 2006. He qualified for the 2008 Masters through his exceptional play during the inaugural FedEx Cup playoff system, that included an opening round 63 (8 under par) at the Deutsche Bank Championship and three straight top 10 finishes. He entered the FedEx Cup playoffs in 52nd place and improved to 28th place through his play in the first three events, thus qualifying for the 30-man field at The Tour Championship in Atlanta, Georgia, where he finished in the top 10 for the third straight week and finished 24th on the FedEx Cup points list.
Villegas won his second professional event at the Coca-Cola Tokai Classic on the Japan Golf Tour in September 2007. By doing so, he earned ￥24,000,000 (approximately $208,272). He shot a score of 282 (-2) and defeated Toyokazu Fujishima in a playoff by draining a 20 foot putt on the winning hole.
Villegas won his third professional event at the TELUS Skins Game in June 2008 where he defeated a field that included Greg Norman, Colin Montgomerie, Mike Weir and "Mr. Skins", Fred Couples. Villegas took six skins for $130,000 with a short birdie putt on the 14th hole, and then won an additional four skins for $100,000 in a playoff, which was decided with a closest-to-the-pin shootout from 130 yards out on the 18th hole.
Villegas recorded a record-breaking second round in the 2008 Open Championship. He shot 65, which was the lowest score for any Open Championship second round at Royal Birkdale. He started off with two bogeys but ended with five consecutive birdies which put him at 5 under for his round.
Villegas won his first PGA Tour title in September 2008, winning the BMW Championship by two shots over Dudley Hart. For the last 44 holes of the tournament, Villegas did not three putt, one-putting 27 of those last 44 holes. This victory took him to a career high of 18th in the Official World Golf Rankings.[2]
Villegas followed his BMW Championship win with a victory in The Tour Championship. He beat Sergio García in a playoff, having trailed by five shots going into the final round. The win took Villegas to number seven in the Official World Golf Rankings[3] and established him as the highest ranked golfer from South America. He spent 14 weeks in the top-10 in 2008.[4]
In late 2008 Villegas joined the European Tour, making his first European Tour appearance at the 2008 HSBC Champions, the first tournament of the 2009 season. However he will continue to play predominately in the United States.
[edit] Playing style
Villegas' tremendous physical power allows him to drive the ball far away from the tee box, averaging 302.1 yards in the 2006 season. He also adapts a homemade putting routine: while he reads a putt, he crouches down parallel to the ground without touching it, extending his left leg back while balancing with his right leg and his putter to get a better view of the slope of the green. He is given the nickname "Hombre Araña" (Spiderman) for this posture.
[edit] Pronouncing his name
Throughout the PGA Tour and among the media, there is a debate over how Villegas's name should be pronounced.
- According to a PGA Tour tournament starter (a person who announces the player's name at the first tee), "Here's the scoop. I am a starter for one of the PGA Tour stops and I pronounced it to him directly to make sure I announced it correctly and his reply was, "thank you for someone finally getting it right on this tour". I pronounced [it] with his blessing as "Ka [mee] low Vi yay gaas" The "v[i]" is pronou[n]ced as in Viva and his last name ends like veGAS. "Viva Las Vegas"..[5]
- In Spanish, Villegas is pronounced "bee-YAY-gahss" or "bee-JAY-gahss".[6]
- One forum gives the most reliable opinion on this matter, since the wife of the commentator is from Colombia, as is Villegas. As he states,
"My wife is Colombian and I'm down there every month, I've even played golf with people who played against Villegas in the Colombian national championships. The ll is pronounced as a J in Colombia and as a Y in Spain with variations in different Spanish speaking countries. My wife who isn't into golf pronounces the name as Bee-Jay-Gas as do the golfers who played with him, they are just following the rules of pronounciation in Colombia, which are different from Spain which are different from Mexico and so on."[7]
[edit] Equipment
Villegas is currently sponsored by the Acushnet Company and plays under the Cobra name. As of March 14, 2009, Villegas plays the following equipment;
Driver: King Cobra S9-1
Fairway Woods: King Cobra Speed LD F 3 & 5
Iron: King Cobra Carbon CB #3
Irons: King Cobra Pro CB 5-PW
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design Spin Milled 54° (bent to a 53°), 58° & 60° (bent to a 63°)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Circa '62 #3
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
[edit] Amateur wins
- 2002 Mexican Open
- 2003 Players Amateur
[edit] Professional wins (7)
[edit] PGA Tour wins (2)
|
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | Margin of Victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 7, 2008 | BMW Championship | -15 (65-66-66-68=265) | 2 Strokes |  Dudley Hart |
| 2 | Sep 28, 2008 | The Tour Championship | -7 (72-66-69-66=273) | Playoff |  Sergio Garcia |
PGA Tour playoff record (1-1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2007 | Honda Classic | José Cóceres, Boo Weekley, Mark Wilson | Eliminated on second extra hole (Mark Wilson won on fourth extra hole) |
| 2 | 2008 | The Tour Championship | Sergio García | Won on first extra hole: García bogey, Villegas par |
[edit] Japan Golf Tour wins (1)
[edit] Other wins (4)
- 2001 Colombian Open (as an amateur)
- 2008 TELUS World Skins Game, CVS Caremark Charity Classic (with Bubba Watson), Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge
[edit] Results in major championships
| Tournament | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT | CUT | T13 |
| U.S. Open | CUT | DNP | T59 | T26 | T9 | T33 |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T39 | |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | CUT | T23 | T4 |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
[edit] Results in World Golf Championship events
| Tournament | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Accenture Match Play Championship | R64 | R16 |
| CA Championship | T26 | T5 |
| Bridgestone Invitational | DNP |
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
[edit] References
- ^ Golf Digest
- ^ Week 36 - Camilo Villegas Leaps into the World Top 20 with Victory at the BMW Championship - Official World Golf Ranking, 8 September 2008
- ^ Week 39 - Villegas Wins The Tour Championship and Jumps to World Number 7 - Official World Golf Ranking, 28 September 2008
- ^ "Players who have reached the Top Ten in the Official World Golf Ranking since 1986" (PDF). European Tour Official Guide 09 (38th ed.). PGA European Tour. 2009. p. 558. http://www.europeantour.com/default.sps?pagegid={00387D2B-9D40-40B9-B2AC-C46939A8370B}. Retrieved on 2009-01-16.
- ^ The Golf Channel Forum- last comment of the list
- ^ At the "English Pronunciation Guide to the Names of People, Places, and Stuff"- inogolo - you can actually hear the correct pronunciation in Spanish, for yourself, as well as for Camilo (notice the single "l").
- ^ #10 in the thread - VeeJAYgas or VeeAYgas? -
