Positive thinking powers Villegas
A final-round 73 can't get him down
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NORTON - For Camilo Villegas, the celebration has once again been put on hold.
The 26-year-old Colombia native went into yesterday's final round of the
But he couldn't find that same magic in the final round. Villegas shot a 2-over-par 73 and finished at 14-under 270 for the tournament, which earned him a tie for third place with Ernie Els, eight shots behind winner Vijay Singh and three behind runner-up Weir. Villegas's quest for his first PGA Tour victory continues.
Villegas went into Sunday with a positive-thinking lesson from Singh. It worked then, but yesterday all the upbeat energy in the world wasn't enough to compete with the surging Singh, who started the day three shots behind Weir.
Villegas started the day at 16 under and had pars on the first seven holes before back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 8 and 9. He had four more pars, which put him in a three-way tie for third place at the time with Els and Sergio Garcia at 14 under. But on No. 14, he had another bogey.
It wasn't until No. 15, a par-4, 426-yard hole, that he earned his first birdie of the round. But any gain there was lost with another bogey on No. 16, a par-3, 161-yard hole. He took a par on No. 17 and wrapped up with a birdie on the par-5, 528-yard 18th.
Afterward, Villegas said he felt good about the fact he went into the day in contention.
"It was a positive week, I keep learning," he said. "The greens get so firm and so quick and I get a little tentative with my putter and that's exactly what happened today.
"Obviously, I didn't hit the ball as great as [Sunday], and that's a reflection on my score, but I felt great out there. I'll keep learning, I'll keep battling, I'll keep getting better."
Villegas said a chief objective was to keep his emotions from getting away from him, and for the most part, he did.
"That was my No. 1 goal coming into today," he said. "We'll keep learning."
Villegas said the conditions on the course - particularly the firmness of the greens - changed dramatically from Friday's opening round, in which Villegas shot a 68.
"It was a joke," he said. "It's amazing how the golf course changed from Friday to Monday. It is what it is. It just seems like the PGA Tour every week tries to get those greens toasted toward the Sunday and that's becoming the trend, which is OK. But you've just got to grind, grind, and get used to it."
The closest Villegas has come to a victory was tying for second in the 2006 FBR Open, the 2006 Ford Championship at Doral, and the 2007 Honda Classic. He believes his experience this week will help him in his goal of winning a title.
If he was disappointed by the outcome, he didn't show it. He looked as if he were still in the Singh Zen mode of positive thoughts only.
"I'll win," he said. "It'll come."
Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at marrapese@globe.com.
