Final round: Singh wins big, Villegas gets second straight
ATLANTA (AP) -- A two-putt par to win THE TOUR Championship in a playoff was worth an extra $1.5 million to Camilo Villegas.
A 7-iron to a scary pin on the 71st hole, under more pressure than he has ever faced?
That was invaluable.
Villegas overcame a five-shot deficit with six birdies on his final 11 holes of regulation -- the last one after going at a dangerous flag on the 17th -- and won THE TOUR Championship on the first extra hole against Sergio Garcia for his second straight victory.
"Winning is awesome," Villegas said after closing with a 4-under 66.
The 26-year-old Colombian, who had gone 85 starts on the PGA TOUR without winning, picked up his second in a row with a finish that brought the gallery to life on a sunny afternoon at East Lake.
In a four-man race coming to the final holes, Villegas caught Garcia with a 7-iron from 184 yards to 12 feet on the 17th, then twice hit beautiful lag putts from 45 feet for par on the 233-yard 18th -- once in regulation to finish at 7-under 273, then in the playoff to win.
"Probably the shot of the tournament there," Villegas said. "There's a great chance the ball is going to plug if it comes up short in that bunker, and a yard long and it's in the water. So it's just hit and beg. It happened to be just fine."
Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson each shot 69 and each had a chance to join the playoff. Kim, playing in the second-to-last group with Villegas, missed from 30 feet. In the final group, Mickelson missed his birdie putt from 20 feet.
Garcia, who blew a 54-hole lead of at least three shots for the third straight time, also had a 20-foot birdie putt to win in regulation. He didn't give himself much of a chance in the playoff when his 4-iron came up 30 yards short and to the right. His flop shot over a bunker stayed in the collar of the green, and a chip to extend the playoff came up well short.
"I doubted myself too much early on, and it cost me," said Garcia, who squandered a six-shot lead in 2005 at the Wachovia Championship and a three-shot lead last year in the British Open at Carnoustie.
The consolation prize might be the Vardon Trophy for lowest adjusted scoring average. Garcia came into THE TOUR Championship trailing Mickelson by one-hundredth of a point, and wound up at 69.40. Mickelson finished at 69.42.
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| Sunday's Best |
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The par-5, 495-yard 15th was the easiest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.367.
The par-3, 168-yard 6th was toughest with a Sunday scoring average of 3.500.
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Camilo Villegas needed one more birdie in order to force Sergio Garcia into a playoff, and that's just what he got on the 17th after this spectacular approach. 
As if to say "don't forget about me," Camilo Villegas shot a final-round 66 at East Lake, even with a double bogey, to win his second straight tournament. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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PLAYOFFS' IMPACT IS BIGGER THAN MIGHT HAVE BEEN EXPECTED
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor
| 3 | Number of weeks it took Camilo Villegas to earn his first two PGA TOUR wins |
| 10 | Number of millions Vijay Singh took away as FedExCup champion |
| 102 | Number of days until the 2009 FedExCup race begins |
ATLANTA -- Now that the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup are over, what should we take from the past four events? What will be the legacy of the second year of the Playoffs?
A deserving winner: If you want to complain about the FedExCup being wrapped up before anyone teed off at East Lake, that's your prerogative. But truthfully, was any player more deserving of claiming the silver trophy and the $10 million bonus than Vijay Singh? In one word: No.
He went out and won the first two tournaments to essentially slam the door on the rest of the field. He hit the key shots when it mattered, like that 26-foot birdie putt at The Barclays on top of Sergio Garcia's 27-footer in the playoffs. He posted the key rounds, like that sizzling 8-under 63 in the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship to win by five shots.
Singh might have stepped off the gas in the final two events -- certainly it's been a weird four-day victory stroll for him at East Lake -- but he certainly didn't back into the FedExCup. For all of the other issues about the FedExCup format, one simple thing remains: Winning matters.
"If somebody goes out there and wins two or three events," Singh said, "it's all over -- no matter how much you tweak it."
Oh, and if you want to argue that Camilo Villegas was just as deserving as Singh because each player won two Playoff events, then one other thing matters: the regular season.
Singh was more consistent in 2008 and started with 2,350 more FedExCup points than Villegas when the points were reset. Singh ended up winning by 551 points.
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
| What the top finishers said | ||||||||||||||||
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MAN ON THE BAG WAS VILLEGAS' SECRET WEAPON
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
ATLANTA -- Caddies like to joke that their job is simple: Show up, keep up and shut up.
Lucky for Camilo Villegas, though, the man who totes his bag also knew when to speak up on Sunday during the final round of THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola,
Villegas fired the day's low round of 66 and then beat Sergio Garcia on the first hole of sudden death to win the finale of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. The victory was the 26-year-old's second in as many starts, and, as he sat in front of the Waterford trophy, he gave a ton of credit to a well-timed pep talk he received.
Villegas had just hit his tee shot on the par-3 sixth into the water. He went on to make double bogey there and bogey on the next, giving back both shots -- and another, to boot -- that he'd recouped with a hot start. Suddenly, he was once again trailing Garcia by five strokes, and Gary Matthews knew it was time.
"My caddie looked at me straight in the eyes, and he goes, 'You ain't going to give up on me. We can still do it,'" Villegas said. "He was probably the only one believing that at that point."
Matthews' words struck a chord with the young Colombian. He went on to birdie five of his next six holes - making putts of 13, 29, 11 and 42 feet, and two-putting from 41 on the par-5 ninth -- to grab a share of the lead.
And when he made another bogey, Villegas responded with a 7-iron he called "probably the shot of the tournament," at the 17th hole to set up a 12-footer for birdie that would get him back into a share of the lead. Then when Garcia missed the green in the playoff and Villegas two-putted from 46 feet, the title was his.
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
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| Villegas' last five starts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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FACTS AND STATS: MORE ON VILLEGAS, SINGH GARCIA
Compiled by Elias Sports Bureau, Inc.
• Vijay Singh won the FedExCup in lackluster fashion and finished the tournament at 8 over. This is the second highest score that Singh has had on TOUR this year in a tournament where he played in all four rounds. His worst score came at the U.S. Open Championship where he finished at 14 over. In fact, this is only the third tournament this year where Singh made the cut and finished over par. The other tournament was the Masters where he finished 1 over.
• Sergio Garcia was 11 for 12 (91.7%) in sand-save opportunities at THE TOUR Championship. This is the second highest sand-save percentage in a tournament where Garcia was in the bunker more than five times. At the 2002 Worldcom Classic, Sergio was a perfect 10 for 10 in sand-save opportunities and went on to finish tied for 19th.
• Camilo Villegas won THE TOUR Championship due in part to his eight birdies in the final round. This ties the most holes played under par in a single round on TOUR for Villegas. The last time Villegas made eight birdies was three weeks ago in the first round of the 2008 BMW Championship, a tournament he went on to win. The only other time that he made eight birdiesin the final round of a tournament was at the 2006 John Deere Classic (he tied for 47th)
• Ben Curtis finished THE TOUR Championship hitting 40 of 56 fairways and 52 of 72 greens. His 40 fairways hit led all players, and his 52 greens hit was second only to Anthony Kim who hit 53. This is the third tournament where Curtis ranked second in greens in regulation and the fourth time that he has led the field in fairways hit. Curtis has never before finished in the top three in both categories.
INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
XM Radio announcer Brian Katrek offers these observations from Saturday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
If players this week want to know what these Mini Verde Bermuda greens will look and play like next year, they have the chance to find out. One of the practice chipping greens had the Bermuda grass installed on a trial basis last year. This year, it is showing just how much difference a year will make to these new surfaces. It is still firm but far more receptive than the 18 on the course that are a year younger...
One of the attributes of the Mini Verde Bermuda is that it plays very similar to its Bentgrass and Poa Annua brothers. But it is interesting to note that the only two players in this field who have won PGA TOUR events on Mini Verde Bermuda were first and second when the day started. Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia won the two PLAYERS Championships since these greens were installed at TPC Sawgrass...
The great weather this week in Atlanta brought out the spectators in droves. And the final round pairing of Camilo Villegas and Anthony Kim was very popular. These two young, energetic superstars are very popular with the female members of the gallery as well. It seemed like almost every one of the ladies was watching that group.
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