Foregone Conclusions

By Bob Verdi
Photos By J.D. Cuban September 12, 2008

Camilo Villegas says it's all about soccer back in his native Colombia, where there are only 40 or so golf courses and not much discussion of the FedEx Cup playoffs on talk radio. But that might change now, because the stylish 26-year-old won the BMW Championship last Sunday. With a final-round 68, Villegas secured a wire-to-wire victory, his first on the PGA Tour, not that he acted the part. When Villegas clinched on the 18th green at Bellerive CC, save for the obligatory hugs and handshakes, it almost seemed as though he had been there before.

Part of the reason might be that Villegas has been so close so frequently in three years with the big show -- three seconds, 17 top-10s. Also, beneath the flashy outfits, the finely tuned body and the Spiderman routine, a certain maturity borne of patience exists. For example, Villegas was 138 pounds when he went to the University of Florida, where he could have partied the way you're supposed to party. You can gain weight by drinking beer, too.

"But I saw a good door and a bad door there," Villegas explains. "I had this great opportunity to improve my game and myself with all these physical-education and nutrition experts around me. I had a great coach in Buddy Alexander. I had all these facilities. I had time. I had to get stronger and better. I had my fun, believe me. But, in the end, when it mattered, I took the good door."

With his two-stroke triumph over another Gator, Dudley Hart, Villegas virtually guaranteed a $10 million postseason jackpot for Vijay Singh, whose FedEx Cup coronation was a conclusion as foregone as he was long gone by the time Camilo signed for a 15-under 265. Singh won the first two playoff tests -- Barclays and Deutsche Bank -- tied for 44th in the BMW and still can avoid being asked to kiss the hardware that Tiger Woods refused to smooch at the climactic Tour Championship one September ago.

"Vijay has to fall off the stairs or something," mused Sergio Garcia. That's close. If Singh neither starts nor finishes the fourth and final leg at East Lake GC, Garcia or Villegas could collect that $10 million, but only by winning there. So, even though Singh declined to hang out at Bellerive for congratulations, it's pretty much over before it's over.

"Volatility" is a word the tour has trotted out early and often to sanctify the latest (but not last) Byzantine permutations of the FedEx Cup points system. But with the Tour Championship destined to feel limp, especially a week after the Ryder Cup, volatility also might describe the emotions of executives at the Atlanta headquarters of sponsor Coca-Cola. Only one of this year's major champions, Trevor Immelman, will play, and if you book a flight there to see Phil Mickelson, make sure your ticket is fully refundable. "It needs improvement," offered Villegas, referring to a scheme whereby the elite-30 list excludes Padraig Harrington, likely the Player of the Year after snaring the British Open and PGA Championship. Villegas will be there, of course, but first he planned to travel home to bond with family, friends and supporters. A few of his pals waited for him Sunday, including Eric Axley and Garcia, who recorded his first competitive hole-in-one (pro or amateur) in the second round before settling for a T-20.

Outside the ropes, thousands of spectators gravitated toward Villegas. St. Louis, America's finest baseball city, was starved for the world's best golfers. They hadn't been visited since the 1992 PGA Championship, and despite extenuating atmospheric circumstances before a sunsplashed Sunday afternoon, these people expressed a definite yearning for more, albeit in their customary civilized fashion.

They were presented a five-hour tug-of-war in the lead threesome: Villegas, fellow young lion Anthony Kim and Jim Furyk, who required only 128 strokes for 36 holes on a catch-up Saturday. Villegas' one-shot margin vanished Sunday afternoon after bogeys on Nos. 5 and 6, but he was up again by one at the turn. The back nine is where Villegas took a cue from another amigo, Singh, who encouraged him to believe in his putter even when others don't.