Something else that's pretty sweet is winning, which Villegas has now done two starts in a row. "It's awesome," he said. "Again, I've worked so hard. Thanks to the team that's behind me. I can't do it as an individual. There are a lot of people behind me. They've believed in me. They've supported me, and they've motivated me to just put in all those hours, to work hard."
One of those team members is Dr. Gio Valiante, the sport psychologist who also works with Vijay Singh. Valiante was on the practice green at East Lake Sunday night, surveying the scene as Villegas and Singh held their trophies and posed for photos with executives of Stanford Financial, one of their sponsors. It seemed fitting that arguably two of the hardest-working gym rats on the PGA Tour would hold the hardware and the cash at the end of a 38-week season, but the year was not complete.
They celebrated that night at Nan, before Villegas headed to Japan. As he said, he has to work next week. He knows Garcia and Kim won't be backing off. "The center of everything we do is work ethic," Valiante said. "There was a moment at dinner when we were sitting next to each other, and I said to him, 'Let me tell you something. It's easier to get to No. 7 in the world than to stay there.' He looked at me and said, 'You've got it, bro.' "
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