Golf
Villegas wins Honda Classic
2010-03-08 06:56
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Palm Beach Gardens - Colombian Camilo Villegas won his first title since the end of the 2008 season, firing a two-under par 68 on Sunday to capture the US PGA Honda Classic by a record-tying five strokes.
Villegas birdied three holes in a row to seize a six-stroke lead with eight holes remaining, then made bogeys on three of the next five before hanging on, sinking a 15-foot birdie at the 18th to finish on 13-under 267.
"It's never as easy as you think," Villegas said. "I played great on the front nine, made a couple of hiccups then got it going at the finish."
Villegas had not won a tour event since back-to-back 2008 triumphs at the BMW Championship and season-ending Tour Championship.
American Anthony Kim charged late in a final-round 67 but settled for second at 272, one stroke ahead of England's Justin Rose at the 5.6 million-dollar event with England's Paul Casey and Fiji's Vijay Singh sharing fourth on 274.
"I'm excited I got around in 67," Kim said. "Maybe this will lead to some more good play."
Villegas birdied the fourth hole and began his triple birdie run at the eighth. After back-to-back bogeys at 11 and 12, the South American star found a bunker off the tee at 13, then blasted a key shot onto the green and made par.
Despite a bogey at the 15th on an eight-foot par miss that trimmed his lead to three strokes, Villegas was able to hold off Kim and match the event's record victory margin set by 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus in 1977.
The victory came in the same week that Villegas flew to his homeland to launch a US developmental tour event in his homeland.
It has been a long week but man has it been a good one," Villegas said. "I loved going back home, then coming out here and taking care of business."
Kim birdied the 13th and 14th holes to keep some pressure upon Villegas, but a bogey at the 17th took him out of any title hopes.
The runner-up showing was still Kim's best US tour finish in more than a year after injury struggles.
"To be healthy and making some birdies feels good," Kim said. "I hung in there. I still haven't put four good ones together but I'm trying as hard as I can to get there. I'm sure it will come."
Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson and American Mike Connell shared sixth on 276, one stroke ahead of South Korean Charlie Wi and two better than England's Lee Westwood, Zimbabwe's Brendon de Jonge and American Chris Tidland.
Leading scores on Sunday after the final round of the $5.6 million PGA Tour Honda Classic (USA unless noted):
267 - Camilo Villegas (COL) 66-66-67-68
272 - Anthony Kim 68-64-73-67
273 - Justin Rose (ENG) 70-72-67-64
274 - Paul Casey (ENG) 73-64-70-67, Vijay Singh (FIJ) 67-66-69-72
276 - Fredrik Jacobson (SWE) 69-69-69-69, Michael Connell 65-71-69-71
277 - Charlie Wi (KOR) 72-67-68-70
278 - Brendon de Jonge (ZIM) 70-73-67-68, Lee Westwood (ENG) 69-71-70-68, Chris Tidland 73-67-67-71
279 - Will MacKenzie 69-72-69-69, Jerry Kelly 69-65-74-71, JB Holmes 71-69-66-73, George McNeill 68-70-66-75, Nathan Green (AUS) 65-70-67-77
Notable others:
280 - Marc Leishman (AUS) 74-66-71-69, Oliver Wilson (ENG) 66-73-70-71, Henrik Bjornstad (NOR) 68-70-70-72, Stephen Ames (CAN) 73-64-71-72
281 - Alex Cejka (GER) 68-68-75-70, Mike Weir (CAN) 71-64-73-73
282 - Graeme McDowell (NIR) 68-67-71-76
283 - Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 71-69-71-72
284 - Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71-69-75-69, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 71-71-72-70, Matt Jones (AUS) 69-73-72-70, Angel Cabrera (ARG) 69-74-68-73
285 - Sergio Garcia (ESP) 74-69-69-73, John Senden (AUS) 74-68-73-70
287 - Trevor Immelman (RSA) 73-68-73-73, Richard S. Johnson (SWE) 69-72-69-77, Alexandre Rocha (BRA) 66-76-71-74
288 - Ernie Els (RSA) 73-70-70-75, David Lutterus (AUS) 73-69-71-75, Stuart Appleby (AUS) 74-69-71-74
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