Villegas was more than a pretty face in '08

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Camilio Villegas had a breakout year in 2008 with seven top 10s, including a pair of wins, his third year on TOUR.

What will you remember about the '08 season? That was the simple question we asked PGATOUR.COM staffers and freelance contributors, who responded with a series of short essays that we will post during November (click here for the archive link).

In a year of breakout stars on the PGA TOUR, we would be remiss not to mention Camilo Villegas.

Villegas is smooth, a GQ cover boy and Florida Gator alum. Throw in the Colombian accent and Latin good looks and he's arguably at the top of the TOUR's heartthrob list. In just his third season, however, the 26-year-old proved that his game has the substance to complement his South American swagger.

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Fans saw a flash of Villegas' potential in 2007 when he made a late-season run in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup and later earned his first win as a professional at the Coca-Cola Tokai Classic in Japan. But it was this year, after a slow start, that Villegas started living up to the hype.

He posted a top 10 at the Verizon Heritage in April, finished third at the AT&T Classic in May, was top 10 at the U.S. Open in June, tied for fourth at the PGA Championship in August, tied for third at the Deutsche Bank Championship in September and closed out the season with back-to-back wins at the BMW Championship and THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola -- the latter coming in a playoff.

It was clear that as the season wore on Villegas' confidence grew right along with his hair, which was closely cropped in January but flowing from his painter's cap-style hat by mid-season. No longer was he being recognized just for his trademark "Spider-Man" stance while reading putts.

In the Playoffs, Villegas really began to shine. Posting 22 birdies to only five bogeys and a double, Villegas led wire-to-wire at the BMW Championship, holding off Jim Furyk, Dudley Hart and Anthony Kim for his first win on TOUR.

The following month at THE TOUR Championship, Villegas and Sergio Garcia provided plenty of flair and drama with Villegas rallying from five shots back on the final day to force a playoff with Garcia. Villegas parred the first extra hole after Garcia missed the green on the par 3 to earn his second straight victory.

In just nine months, Villegas went from a pretty face with promising talent to force-to-be-reckoned-with. Now he's ranked seventh in the world and appears ready to take on the world in 2009 and beyond.

Lauren Beyer, Social Media and Fan Outreach coordinator for PGATOUR.com, hopes that one day Camilo Villegas accepts her Facebook friend request.