Who is Camilo Villegas? All You Need to Know About the Veteran Colombian Golfer

Camilo Villegas, at the age of 41, has regained power over a failing career. The Colombian is playing at the 2023 World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico on one of the Tiger Woods-designed golf courses, the El Cardonal. 

Camilo is leading the leaderboard after the second round got suspended. He has a 2-stroke lead and has shot a consecutive 8 under 64 for two rounds. Know all about Camilo Villegas and his over two-decade-long career.

Camilo Villegas’ first even victory

Camilo Villegas was born on on January 7, 1982 in Colombia. The athlete made his amateur debut at the age of 15. When he turned 16, Villegas saw success by winning various trophies in his amateur career, including the National Junior Championship and the Amateurs Grand Slam in 1998. Additionally, he won the 1999 South America Juvenile Championship. Camilo then went on to win the Colombian Open in 2001 as an amateur. He became the second Colombian to win the championship at the age of 19.

While staying in his home country, Camilo Villegas was awarded the ‘Player of the Decade’ by the Colombian Golf Federation in February 2000. His golf career took a flight after he got the Sports Scholarship at the University of Florida. As a passionate golfer, Villegas participated in the various events of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). He was part of the Florida Gators for the span of the 2001 championship. He had glorious college years and secured a few other distinctions to his name, as he was All-American for the four years he stayed there. 

In 2006, Camilo Villegas earned his PGA Tour card and played in the Players Championship where he finished in third place. He won his first-ever professional event on the Japan Golf Tour. Villegas won the 2007 Coca-Cola Tokai Classic by defeating Toyokazu Fujishima in the playoffs by hitting a birdie. In 2008, Camilo reached his career-high Official World Golf Ranking of 7 by beating Sergio Garcia in the 2008 Tour Championship.

In the same year, Camilo grabbed the second professional win in Canada, winning the Telus World Skins Game ahead of Greg Norman. In September 2008, the 4x PGA Tour winner grabbed his victory on the Tour. He defeated Dudley Hart and clinched the trophy of the BMW Championship. In the same year, Villegas broke the record of having the lowest second round ever on the Open Championship in Royal Birkdale by shooting a 65. His career-best performances at the US Open and the PGA Championship were also in the year 2008, where he finished T9 and T4, respectively. 

Moreover, later that year, Villegas became a member of the European Tour for the 2009 season. The Colombian could win a single title on the DP World Tour except for a top 5 finish in the Volvo World Matchplay Championship. He was also in the top 30 in Race to Dubai for the 2009 season.

‘Spider-Man’ of golf 

Camilo is know to have a unique style before making a putt. The 41-year-old golfer makes a Spider-Man pose while lying down on the greens, thus garnering the famous nickname.

The first appearance of Villegas in the majors was at the 2006 Masters. It was not as amusing as he would have wanted, however in the 2009 Masters, Camilo shot a remarkable round and finished tied at 13. In 2010, Camilo had his third victory on the Tour. He won the Honda Classic by beating Anthony Kim. However, after 2 winless years, Villegas had to shift to the PGA Tour Q-School as he fell to 144th on the money list in 2012. 

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He worked his way up again and got the Tour card back in 2014. That same year, Camilo won his most recent event, the Wyndham Championship, and ended the drought of 4 years on the PGA Tour. Another good change that occurred in the 41-year-old’s life was that he tied the knot with his wife, Maria Ochao Mora. The duo welcomed their first daughter, Mia Villegas. However, the sad demise of Mia had disheartened the family. 

The Colombian golfer lost his Tour card again in 2016, but gained the privileges back for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. In 2022, Camilo was named as the Captain’s Assistant for the President’s Cup. In the last nine tournaments he has been part of, Camilo has missed the cut five times. This, while being in the top 10 only once at the Price Cutter Charity Championship. His recent remarkable performance at the El Cardonal Diamante, where he had a continuous 8-under in both rounds, has kept him in the lead. 

With his 18 years on the PGA Tour, Camilo Villegas is contesting for his fifth victory. The 40-plus golfer will be making a comeback that nobody expected from him. Do you think Camilo Villegas will be able to end his nine-year drought and finally take a trophy home? 

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