Villegas completes wire-to-wire win

By From Wire Services  |  September 8, 2008

For three years, Camilo Villegas managed to make a name for himself without winning.

He was the young Colombian with model good looks and chic clothing, limber enough to strike a pretzel-shaped pose on the green to read putts, earning him the nickname "Spider-Man." Trouble was, not many of those putts went in.

That changed yesterday at the BMW Championship in St. Louis.

Clinging to a one-shot lead on the back nine at Bellerive, Villegas saved par with a 12-foot putt, followed that with two birdie putts and finished off a 2-under 68 for a wire-to-wire victory and his first PGA Tour title.

The 26-year-old from Medellin turned his fortunes Saturday after four-putting for double bogey that cost him the lead in the second round. He didn't have another three-putt the rest of the way.

"It rattled me in a good way, because I had been putting so good all week, and all of a sudden I four-putt," Villegas said. "But I looked at my caddie and said, 'Listen, man, let's don't let those two bad strokes get in our way.' "

And it didn't. Villegas, who finished at 15-under 265 and collected $1.26 million, pulled away from Jim Furyk, held off Anthony Kim, and wound up winning by two shots over Dudley Hart, who birdied his final two holes for a 65.

But, 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 so that all he has to do is complete four rounds at the Tour Championship to collect the $10 million payoff.

But the surly Singh didn't seem terribly grateful, refusing to speak to NBC Sports and walking briskly past a group of other media after finishing his round.

Women's Mid-Amateur - Wendi Patterson-Golden - a former pro who coaches a Bradenton, Fla., girls' high school team - shot 70 for a two-round total of 2-under 142 to top the 64 match-play qualifiers in Ann Arbor, Mich. Among the 64 advancing were Tracy Welch of Winchester (T-19), Daria Cummings of Monroe, Conn. (T-43), and Tara Joy-Connelly of Duxbury (T-48).

Mid-Amateur - Richard Berkmeyer of St. Louis earned the top match-play spot by shooting 71 for a 2-under 138 in River Hills, Wis. Among those qualifying for match play were Ricky Jones of Thomaston, Maine, and Austin Eaton III of North Sutton, N.H., who tied for 37th place with 12 others.