In Style and in Control, Villegas Wins His First
Camilo Villegas finally won a PGA Tournament, leading the BMW Championship wire-to-wire in St. Louis.
(Marc Feldman - Getty)
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Monday, September 8, 2008; Page E05
Camilo Villegas gave golf fans a real reason to pay attention to him -- a trophy.
A marketing dream with his model looks and stylish dress, Villegas won for the first time on the PGA Tour with three big putts on the back nine at Bellerive in St. Louis yesterday for a wire-to-wire victory in the BMW Championship.
Villegas closed with a 2-under-par 68 for a two-shot victory over Dudley Hart, who birdied the final two holes to earn a trip to the Masters with his highest finish in two years.
With one playoff event remaining, the FedEx Cup essentially is over.
Vijay 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 three 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.
Villegas, a 26-year-old Colombian in his third year on tour, finished at 15-under 265 and collected $1.26 million.
"It's awesome to be here," said Villegas, who wore a solid white outfit accented by a yellow belt and painter's cap. "Hopefully, it's the first of many."
Villegas had been building toward a moment like this in the last few months. He was near the lead going into the weekend at the British Open, rallied to finish fourth in the PGA Championship, then started the final round last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship one shot behind until faltering.
· EUROPEAN PGA: Jean-Francois Lucquin won the European Masters in a playoff, beating Rory McIlroy with a birdie on the second hole in Crans-Sur-Sierre, Switzerland.
The 19-year-old McIlroy held a four-stroke lead going into the final round, but bogeyed two of the first three holes and then missed a five-foot putt for victory on No. 18 to settle for a 71. He then missed a one-footer and made bogey on the second playoff hole before Lucquin holed a 12-footer for his first European Tour win in his 175th attempt.
· LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR: Annika Sorenstam ended her pro golf career in Europe by finishing third at the Nykredit Masters, won by Martina Eberl in Helsingoer, Denmark.
