Viva Villegas!!!!!!!
DJ – 09.29.08Two in a row...
So the FedEx Cup went to Vijay! Camillo Villegas won his second PGA Tour title in a row and claimed the Tour Championship trophy! And Sergio Garcia, Anthony Kim, Phil Mickelson and Villegas played out one of the most exciting Tour Championship’s in recent years.
All this and the PGA Tour was supposed to lose its excitement without Mr. Woods???
When I published the poll the week before the tournament on who you guys thought would win the Tour title, I picked the 5 guys who I thought would have the best chance of capturing the title… Well I should have gone to the casino that night?????
With Vijay just making sure he didn’t injure himself or worse, managing to DQ himself, to not lose the $10million; the back 9 on Sunday came down to 1 from 4 with Garcia, Kim, Mickelson and Villegas all having a chance to win! With Garcia holding a 3 stroke lead entering Sunday, surely he was going to pick up his second title of the year… at last!
That lead soon evaporated and when Kim birdied the 11th, the 23 year old regained the lead for the first time since Saturday morning, where he was ruffled by nearly missing his tee time and shooting a 72 taking him 3 behind Garcia.
Mickelson on the other hand found his putter on the new Bermuda greens, and managed to get to 7 under midway through the back 9, but eventually finished one back at 6 under par.
With Garcia shedding his lead, Villegas was trying his hardest to rule himself out too, with a 3over stretch on holes 6 and 7. But the Columbian turned things around and birdied 5 of 6 holes, and found himself at 7 under standing on the 18 tee. A tough 2 putt followed and Villegas was in the clubhouse at 7 under par.
What a turnaround for the Columbian, who missed the cut at Barclays (which did cost him $8 million in the end, but that’s another story), tied for 3rd at the Deutsche Bank and then captured his first win in 3 years on the tour at the BMW.
Garcia battled back after a tough start and tied Villegas at 7 under par. With only a birdie putt on the 18th between him and victory; Sergio just left his putt on the low side, resulting in the 2nd playoff of the playoffs, between good friends Garcia and Villegas.
So the two guys who had eaten dinner out together earlier on in the week, headed back to the 18th tee, the daunting 233yard par 3… easy hole???
Villegas hit the green, Sergio short sided himself… Sergio then left his pitch shot short and Camillo 2 putted for a three. Garcia now needed to hole a chip shot to deny Villegas the title. When that came up short, Villegas won his second title in a row, and what a come back it was, from 5 behind with 12 holes to go, to capture the victory.
With that victory Villegas maintained his FedEx Cup ranking of no 2 and earned himself a cool $4.6 million dollars in the process. For a Columbian golfer via the University of Florida, it was quite the accomplishment and a very exciting prospect for Commissioner Finchem and the PGA Tour.
Wrapped Up…
So the year long FedEx Cup race is over, and the top 10 finished like this…
Rank and Final Points
1 1
Vijay Singh 125,101
2 2
Camilo Villegas 124,550
3 3
Sergio Garcia 119,400
4 6
Anthony Kim 114,419
5 4
Jim Furyk 113,180
6 5
Mike Weir 113,118
7 9
Phil Mickelson 112,201
8 7
Justin Leonard 111,638
9 10
Ben Curtis 110,702
10 8
K.J. Choi 110,646
Source - (
http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/info/fec.html?02395)
With the absence of Woods, this top 10 looks pretty strong, and with 3 very exciting youngsters just behind the veteran Singh, the talent looks strong.
In Villegas, Garcia and Kim; the PGA Tour now has 3 legitimate stars who may be around for the next 10-15 years to battle TW. Let’s hope they can all fulfill their potential and make Tiger’s return next year, even more exciting…
Nevertheless, in Woods absence this summer, do we assume he merely loaned out the trophies and media coverage, and he will return next spring to show everyone, what we have all been missing, that Torrey magic!
One thing for sure it looks like its going to be one heck of a 2009 season … and I CAN”T WAIT!!!!!!
