DORAL, Fla. -- David Toms was in his own little world. He was laughing, joking, and having fun.

So was Camilo Villegas. The rookie was enjoying every second of Sunday as a fan favorite. The Florida grad even wore an orange belt because he knew he’d have Gator fans following him. And it felt like most of Colombia made the trip to root for their native son.

Yeah, these guys had a lot of nerve.

Didn’t they know they were supposed to be tighter than Keira Knightley’s dress? Didn’t they remember Tiger Woods surrenders 54-hole leads about as often as he wears tank tops on Sundays?

Instead, they simply took their best shot at catching Woods and even though they didn’t, even though Woods walked away with a one-stroke victory over Toms and Villegas at the Ford Championship at Doral, neither ditched their clubs in the lake on No. 18.

“We are talking about the best player in the world here,” Villegas said. “I never thought about that I have Tiger up there. I can’t control what they do so I was trying to focus on myself. And I’m proud of the way I handled myself this week.”

What’s not to like? This was Villegas’ coming out party. It may be his second second-place finish, it was definitely the first time America noticed him. His style was eclipsed only by his play, and that’s saying something. He was eighth for the tournament in greens in regulation, 14th in fewest putts and hit over half his fairways.

Then there was the charming part of his game, the swashbuckling aspect of it. His aggressiveness would get him in trouble, but that same aggressiveness would bail him out on the next shot. He was Capt. Jack Sparrow in foot joys.

“He’s an incredible talent,” said Tag Ridings, Villegas’ playing partner on Sunday who finished tied for fifth. “He’s a great guy and he was great to play with. It was fun day.”

Weird, that’s what Toms said too. He started three shots behind Woods and for 17 holes, he never even peeked at a leaderboard to see where he stood.

“I totally ignored them. I was having fun,” Tom said. “Scott (Gneiser, his caddy) and I were having fun, talking a lot, playing good and looking forward to getting to the greens on every hole because I felt like I was rolling the ball well. I never asked him, never paid attention.”

Had he looked, he would have seen he crept within one stroke briefly after 11 holes. Or that had one or two of the four putts that just missed on holes No. 12-15, he might have wrestled the lead from Woods.

“I kind of stalled out there, but I was still hitting good shots,” Toms said. “I hit the fairways on those holes and was still playing aggressive and was in control. I just didn’t make much.”

Even on No. 17, when a putt just fell one revolution short, Toms was still having a good time. Then, after safely reaching the 18th green, he asked about Woods. Told Woods was in the rough and just one shot ahead, it changed everything.

“I wasn’t nervous all day because I’m trying to catch the guy. Now all of a sudden I have a 100-foot putt all the way across the green with a big break and I’m nervous because I’m just trying to two-putt, because now I think I might have a chance,” Toms said. “That’s my mistake. I don’t usually do things like that.”

One three-putt later, and Toms was done. It was official when Woods made bogey to win a few minutes later.

TOUR rookie Camilo Villegas has two second-place finishes in 2006. (Condon/PGA TOUR/ WireImage)

“It goes to show you, when you play against Tiger, you can’t slip up,” Toms said. “You just have to play solid every day.”

And if you can mix it in, have a little fun. Villegas did in front of yet another big crowd.

“I think I’ve learned to like big crowds,” Villegas said smiling. “I played with Michelle Wie in Hawaii and that felt great. At FBR [Open] (where he finished second), biggest crowds of the year and it felt awesome. This week, very exciting crown and I felt good again and played well. So I like it, I enjoy it.”

And Toms did for the purest of reasons. He passed on a chance to go skiing with his family to play at Doral. It was a tough trip to pass up, but the reward was worth it.

“I had a lot of fun playing golf today, trying to catch Tiger Woods, getting close and ultimately, in the end, not quite getting there. But you know, I enjoyed the challenge,” Toms said. “That’s one reason why I play the TOUR. Just the bottom line of getting in the hunt, having a chance to win, whether you screw up or you don’t or you come out on top, I think that’s the beauty of it. That’s the beauty of sports. That’s why I play. So I made the right decision to come here and play."