There were flashes it was working, although that is a verdict aided by the benefit of hindsight, for in the moment those flashes can also be false hopes. Until a week ago those sparks were mostly done in the deep recesses of the sport and thus went mostly unseen. But what we saw in Bermuda showed what we saw in Cabo was no aberration: Villegas has made his way out of the darkness. With a final-round 65, the 41-year-old captured the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, his first win in over nine years to complete a return that underlined the will of the human spirit.

“Tough to put in words, what a ride man,” Villegas said after a two-shot victory. “I love this game, it’s given me so many great things. But in the process it kicks your butt.”

Adversity is a word overused in sports and especially in golf. It’s employed for things as frivolous as a bad shot or self-imposed controversy, and occasionally as a nod to poor play and injury. Villegas is the exception that no one wants. In 2020, the Columbian revealed through tears at a Korn Ferry Tour event that his 22-month-old daughter Mia was battling tumours on her brain and spine. “We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen,” an emotional Villegas said that June. “She started her second round of chemo; the doctor doesn’t want to do a very detailed scan until after a third round. It’s some anxious times.” A month later, the PGA Tour announced that Mia had passed.

Villegas returned to play not long after Mia’s death at the urging of his wife, believing the best way forward was to reconnect with a game he had begun to separate from. He had once been the next big thing on tour, his aggressive play paired with good looks and bold fashion and childlike flamboyance standing out from the sport’s sea of vanilla. He won two playoff events in 2008, including the Tour Championship, and snagged his third victory 18 months later at the Honda Classic. His bark lived up to the bite.

At least it did for a five-year span. In 2012 his game started to go south. His win at the 2014 Wyndham Championship was one of just two top-three finishes over a 10-year stretch. Villegas lost his short game, followed soon by his confidence. A shoulder injury added to his woes. He missed the playoffs in six of seven seasons, and just months ago it seemed retirement might be on the horizon when Villegas served as a color analyst for Golf Channel’s broadcast of the Wyndham Championship. “The reality is that I am getting older,” he explained in August. “I’m 41, you don’t see too many 40-somethings winning on the PGA Tour. I have been struggling first with an injury and then trying to get back into top form. And your reaction is—because you know, they are seeing your career wind down a little bit—but your heart doesn’t want it that way; you want to keep competing.”

Turns out Villegas could not silence the calls from within. He had been working with a new instructor, Jose Campra, and while the results were not there Villegas felt they would come. Just as importantly, the game had given him a renewed purpose, believing he was playing for more than himself. “Golf,” his wife Maria Ochoa told Camilo, “is what you’ve done over all these years and golf has given you so many great things,’ and little Mia has been inspiring these last few months to keep doing what we’re doing.”

It appeared Villegas was on the precipice of putting a capstone on a feelgood comeback last week at the World Wide Technology Championship, around the lead for the entire tournament only to ultimately come in second after Erik van Rooyen’s 72nd hole eagle. Given Villegas’ track record, it was a wonderful story, but one that felt confined to the week. But Villegas proved his play was no fluke with a 67-63 start in Bermuda and backed it up with a Saturday 65 to enter the final round at Port Royal G.C. one behind Alex Noren. Still, whatever conviction Villegas’ play conveyed was not what he felt inside.

“Let me be honest, let’s tell the viewer out there, people think that we just kind of chill out here and we’re very comfortable doing what we’re doing,” Villegas said Friday evening. “There’s a lot of demons out here and when you’ve been doing it for a long time, golf is hard.”

Only Villegas continued to make this ridiculously hard game look easy on Sunday morning, birdieing four of his first seven holes to grab the lead from Noren at the turn. The wind decided to show up for the finishing stretch and Noren and others had to ditch their ambitions of aggressive play for a defensive mindset and Villegas followed suit, playing to the fat part of the greens and taking the big number out of play. It wasn’t the most exciting finish, but it’s what the moment called for, and Villegas delivered. But this is Villegas we’re talking about, who even in his 40s still pops his collar. He showed he still has a penchant for the dramatic, sticking his approach at the 235-yard par-3 16th to 15 feet, and a mean up-and-down from the greenside bunker at the par-5 17th—while Noren failed to do the same—bestowed a two-shot lead going into the final hole. A birdie lag putt sealed the comeback of the year.

“Life is interesting, it goes up and down both on the personal side and on the professional side,” Villegas said. “Just got to keep a path and you’ve got to keep your mind where it needs to be. Like I said, I’m a hard worker, I love working, I love having a purpose every morning and that’s kind of what I did.”

The win gives Villegas all the usual goodies. A spot in the Masters field, a two-year exemption on tour, a chance to put that broadcasting career on the backburner for some time. That is all well and good. But to understand what Villegas did is to understand where he came from and what he endured, and that is something that’s hard to encapsulate in dollar signs and trophies.

“I just want to thank everyone who supported me on this journey,” Villegas said on the 18th green. “The support has been unbelievable. It kept building up. Everyone on the island was great.

“I got my little one watching, smiling. She’s where she needs to be.”

In one sense, what we saw in Bermuda was nothing more than a game, a performance, a distraction from the pangs of life. Villegas knows this more than most of us ever will. Yet after he tapped in on the 18th Sunday, Villegas looked upward, fighting like hell to keep back the tears he knew were coming. To see what Camilo Villegas did, through the hurt and the doubt, showed a game can still mean a hell of a lot.

Main image: Gregory Shamus

The post Camilo Villegas completes return from tragedy and golf’s abyss to win Bermuda Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

This Sunday at Butterfield Bermuda Championship, it was Camilo Villegas, a 41-year-old from Colombia with limited status on the PGA Tour, earning his fifth career tour win, but first since the 2014 Wyndham Championship. It was also the first win since his 22-month-old daughter, Mia, tragically died in 2020 from brain cancer.

“I’ve got my little one up there watching it, smiling,” Villegas said. “She’s where she needs to be after a long fight.”

Prior to the WWT Championship, Villegas was 223rd on the FedEx Cup points list, but a T-2 finish (after a Sunday 66) jumped him to 147th. Needing to get inside the top 125 for full playing privileges in 2024—he has been playing on past champion’s status the last few years—Villegas was desperate for another good finish in Bermuda.

He got it. Starting the final round at Port Royal Golf Course in Southampton one-shot back of Alex Noren, Villegas made four birdies in his first seven holes to wrestle away the lead. He then held off Noren with two more birdies on the final four holes to finish with a Sunday 65 and a 24-under 260 total.

With the win comes full status on tour through 2025. It also comes a $1.17 million first-place prize money payout from a $6.5 million overall purse.

Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer who made the cut.

Win: Camilo Villegas, 260/-24, $1,170,000

2: Alex Noren, 262/-22, $708,500

3: Matti Schmid, 263/-21, $448,500

4: Carl Yuan, 264/-20, $318,500

T-5: Ryan Moore, 265/-19, $251,062.50

T-5: Adam Scott, 265/-19, $251,062.50

7: Stewart Cink, 266/-18, $219,375

T-8: Tyson Alexander, 267/-17, $177,125

T-8: Ryan Palmer, 267/-17, $177,125

T-8: Taylor Pendrith, 267/-17, $177,125

T-8: Kevin Roy, 267/-17, $177,125

T-8: Vince Whaley, 267/-17, $177,125

T-13: Fred Biondi, 268/-16, $113,053.58

T-13: Austin Cook, 268/-16, $113,053.57

T-13: Kramer Hickok, 268/-16, $113,053.57

T-13: Satoshi Kodaira, 268/-16, $113,053.57

T-13: David Lipsky, 268/-16, $113,053.57

T-13: Adam Long, 268/-16, $113,053.57

T-13: Doc Redman, 268/-16, $113,053.57

T-13: Doc Redman, 268/-16, $113,053.57

T-20: Luke List, 269/-15, $68,482.15

T-20: Brendon Todd, 269/-15, $68,482.15

T-20: Akshay Bhatia, 269/-15, $68,482.14

T-20: Ryan Brehm, 269/-15, $68,482.14

T-20: Mark Hubbard, 269/-15, $68,482.14

T-20: Justin Lower, 269/-15, $68,482.14

T-20: D.A. Points, 269/-15, $68,482.14

T-27: Robert Garrigus, 270/-14, $48,425

T-27: Ben Martin, 270/-14, $48,425

T-27: Scott Piercy, 270/-14, $48,425

T-30: Kyle Stanley, 271/-13, $38,953.58

T-30: Brice Garnett, 271/-13, $38,953.57

T-30: Lucas Herbert, 271/-13, $38,953.57

T-30: Alex Smalley, 271/-13, $38,953.57

T-30: Brandon Wu, 271/-13, $38,953.57

T-30: Dylan Wu, 271/-13, $38,953.57

T-30: Kevin Yu, 271/-13, $38,953.57

T-37: Wesley Bryan, 272/-12, $27,625

T-37: Brian Gay, 272/-12, $27,625

T-37: Ben Griffin, 272/-12, $27,625

T-37: Patton Kizzire, 272/-12, $27,625

T-37: Peter Malnati, 272/-12, $27,625

T-37: Sean O’Hair, 272/-12, $27,625

T-37: Brian Stuard, 272/-12, $27,625

T-37: Kyle Westmoreland, 272/-12, $27,625

T-45: Kevin Chappell, 273/-11, $18,216.25

T-45: Lucas Glover, 273/-11, $18,216.25

T-45: Cody Gribble, 273/-11, $18,216.25

T-45: Nick Hardy, 273/-11, $18,216.25

T-45: Charley Hoffman, 273/-11, $18,216.25

T-45: Andrew Landry, 273/-11, $18,216.25

T-45: Andrew Novak, 273/-11, $18,216.25

T-45: Davis Riley, 273/-11, $18,216.25

T-53: Ryan Armour, 274/-10, $15,231.67

T-53: Kelly Kraft, 274/-10, $15,231.67

T-53: Max McGreevy, 274/-10, $15,231.67

T-53: Matthias Schwab, 274/-10, $15,231.67

T-53: Lanto Griffin, 274/-10, $15,231.66

T-53: Peter Kuest, 274/-10, $15,231.66

T-59: Martin Laird, 275/-9, $14,560

T-59: William McGirt, 275/-9, $14,560

T-59: Austin Smotherman, 275/-9, $14,560

T-59: D.J. Trahan, 275/-9, $14,560

T-63: Greg Koch, 276/-8, $14,170

T-63: Augusto Núñez, 276/-8, $14,170

T-65: Martin Contini, 277/-7, $13,780

T-65: Zecheng Dou, 277/-7, $13,780

T-65: Ted Potter, Jr., 277/-7, $13,780

T-65: Robert Streb, 277/-7, $13,780

T-69: George Bryan, IV, 278/-6, $13,325

T-69: Ryan Gerard, 278/-6, $13,325

T-69: Richy Werenski, 278/-6, $13,325

T-72: Jim Herman, 279/-5, $12,870

T-72: Troy Merritt, 279/-5, $12,870

T-72: S.Y. Noh, 279/-5, $12,870

T-72: Cameron Percy, 279/-5, $12,870

T-76: Nico Echavarria, 280/-4, $12,350

T-76: Russell Knox, 280/-4, $12,350

T-76: David Lingmerth, 280/-4, $12,350

T-76: Kevin Stadler, 280/-4, $12,350

80: Nick Watney, 282/-2, $12,025

81: Martin Trainer, 283/-1, $11,895

Main image: Gregory Shamus

The post Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer at the 2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

There was new voice on the Golf Channel broadcast of the Wyndham Championship this past week. No your ears were not deceiving you. That was the voice of four-time PGA Tour winner Camilo Villegas, who was making his broadcasting debut in the analyst chair.

While it’s a job that requires time to learn and be truly good at, you can often tell right away whether or not guys are cut out for it. After just four days on the job, it sure seems as though Villegas could be very good at it if he wants to stick with it. Originally, he was unsure if he wanted to do it at all, balking at a suggestion by Golf Channel’s Steve Sands that he might give television a try.

Villegas has not put his playing career to bed just yet, but the insight and energy he brought to the booth, and the positive reaction he’s received from viewers, might be enough to persuade him to come back for more. Of course, there were plenty of rookie mistakes and learning on the fly, as this A+ clip of Villegas commentating without the microphone next to his mouth shows. Thankfully, his boy Sandsy, a pro’s pro in every sense of the phrase, swooped in to save the day:

 

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A post shared by Camilo Villegas (@camilovillegasofficial)

What makes this save extra impressive from Sands is that he wasn’t even looking at Villegas to see that the microphone wasn’t on properly. He could hear something was off in his headset, which is when you’ll notice his eyes darting to the right leading to the eventual glove save and a beauty. That’s a TV professional right there.

As you can see from the fist pump, too, TV is a team game. Another reason Villegas might want to hang around the booth a little more. When you mess up on the golf course, it’s all on you. Nobody is coming to save the day. When you mess up on TV, you’ve got teammates like Sandsy to pick you up. For now, though, it’s back to the real grind.

“What a week,” Villegas said on Instagram afterward. “Honoured and thankful to get a chance to call some shots for the first time next to Steve Sands and the whole crew that make a broadcast possible. The Wyndham Championship is a is a special event for me and nice to add this week to the memories. Golf Channel, thanks again for the opportunity. I hope the viewers enjoyed as much as I did…. Back to playing though.”

The post Camilo Villegas made the ultimate rookie broadcasting mistake and then veteran Steve Sands saved the day appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Camilo Villegas will make his broadcast debut at this week’s Wyndham Championship.

Villegas, 41, is a four-time PGA Tour winner, with his last victory coming at the 2014 Wyndham. Known for his fashion style and aggressive play, Villegas was once billed as a fledgling star, and finished as high as second in the 2008 FedEx Cup.

However, Villegas has struggled with injuries over the past decade, making just nine starts this season and failing to make the FedEx Cup playoffs since 2017. Though Villegas isn’t ready to surrender his playing career, the chance to try-out for a media role was too good to pass up.

“I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I need to find out if I like it,” Villegas told Golfweek’s Adam Schupak. “I’m going to continue to play golf. If I really like it and they think I have potential, could there be weeks where I hop into the booth and fill in? We’ll see. I don’t know. Too many moving parts to know where this thing will go.”

According to Golfweek, Villegas was initially approached by the Golf Channel’s Steve Sands at a charity event, who asserted Villegas could be good on television. Villegas apparently told Sands “in no uncertain terms” that he wasn’t interested.

“As a competitor, as a golfer, you never want to be done. When you start looking somewhere else and you’re 41 and you haven’t been performing, that was my first reaction,” Villegas told Golfweek.

This week’s Wyndham Championship is the regular-season finale for the PGA Tour, with the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings advancing to the revamped postseason.

The post Former PGA Tour star to make broadcast debut at Wyndham Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
After a crushing three-putt par on the par-5 15th hole, it seemed to be quite clear that this wasn’t Robert Streb’s day. While the rest of the contenders at the RSM Classic were throwing up 62s and 63s, Streb was plodding along at one under. That wasn’t going to get it done on a day when there was virtually no wind on Sea Island.

But Streb stayed in it, even after watching his three-shot lead vanish and seeing that he was now going to have to do the chasing. Up head at the 72nd green, Kevin Kisner had posted a 63 to reach 19 under. Streb needed to make something happen.

He did exactly that at the difficult par-3 17th, stepping on a 6-iron and drawing it in to the back right pin. His tee shot came to rest 11 feet from the hole, and he poured in the birdie putt to tie Kisner.

Coming up clutch with the pressure on. ?@therealstrebber is back in the co-lead and controls his own destiny with one hole to play. pic.twitter.com/14A2YJaruz

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 22, 2020

A par at the 18th put them in a sudden-death playoff, and Streb began the playoff by hitting his tee shot in the left bunker. His week appeared dead again, but yet again he stayed within himself, grinding out a par and watching Kisner’s birdie effort for the win just slide past the hole. On the second playoff hole, the 18th once more, Streb found the left rough and pulled off hero shot No. 2 to all but end the tournament:

WHAT A SHOT. ?@therealstrebber nailed his approach on the second playoff hole to win @TheRSMClassic. ? pic.twitter.com/sAmFE6otjR

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 22, 2020

Kisner’s approach sailed the green, and when he failed to chip it in for birdie, Streb had locked up his second tour win in style. His first victory also came at Sea Island in 2014. When asked what it is he likes so much about the event, Streb was very matter of fact.

“I don’t have a good answer for you,” he said. “My finishes here are all over the lot, but I do like it here. Greens are always pure. I feel like if you’re playing good, you can do well.”

No lies detected there. Play well, do well. Simple as that. Pulling off a pair of hero shots in the clutch usually helps, too.

Here are three other takeaways from Sunday on Sea Island.

Sam Greenwood

What else does Kevin Kisner have to do?
If Robert Streb’s win came out of nowhere (Streb had just three top 10s on tour since August 2018), a Kisner victory would have been one many prognosticators saw coming. Kisner, who also previously won the RSM in 2015, had been playing so well of late. But each time he had a great week, somebody else had an even greater one. Bryson DeChambeau at the Rocket Mortgage. Jim Herman at the Wyndham. Dustin Johnson at The Northern Trust. Each of those events, Kisner was knocking on the door but couldn’t quite get it done.

But he’d yet to come as close as he did on Sunday, shooting a closing 63 to get into the playoff after not bogeying a hole since Friday. Which has to make this one the most crushing. Knowing Kisner and his Bulldog mentality, he’ll more-than-likely finish one off soon, but at some point even he has to wonder what the hell else he needs to do to get his fourth win on tour.

Sam Greenwood

That was still a special week for Camilo Villegas
After he shot rounds of 64 and 66 to get into contention, we couldn’t hide the fact that we were cheering hard for Camilo Villegas this week. If anybody “deserved” a win, it was Villegas, who went through a terrible tragedy when his 22-month-old daughter passed away in July. Winning a golf tournament wasn’t going to make that any easier to live with, but it would have given the 38-year-old Colombian something to smile about during what has to be one of the worst years of his life.

He was unable to get it done, a third-round even-par 70 costing him a real chance, but this was still a very special week for the four-time tour winner. He wound up finishing with a Sunday 66, which earned him a T-6 finish, his best since the 2016 RSM Classic when lost in a playoff. When you’ve had a few lean years like Villegas had, top-six finishes are like gold. Still a ways to go in this “Super Season,” but Villegas’ strong result on Sea Island puts him in position to make a run at the FedEx Cup Playoffs, somewhere he hasn’t been since 2017.

Sam Greenwood

Zach Johnson will have nightmares about the par-5 seventh tonight
All these guys who finished a few back could play the “what-if” game for all 72 holes this week. But for Zach Johnson, there is no more painful “what if” than “what if he hadn’t triple-bogeyed the par-5 seventh on Sunday?”

That’s right, Johnson finished just three shots out of a potential playoff at the RSM Classic, and that was because of a snowman on the Seaside Course’s first par 5 on the scorecard. Making it even worse was the fact he bogeyed it a day earlier, meaning he’d played it in four over on the weekend. Ouch.

“That hole’s kind of bitten me both days,” Johnson said. “A 6 there yesterday and an 8 today, and it’s a par-5, which is very frustrating because those are the ones you usually try to take advantage of, especially today with, well, relatively speaking very benign conditions. Hit the worst shot of the week on the tee. I’m still at that point I’m trying to make a 5 instead of a 4, but got a little aggressive with my next shot, which is my third shot, and it just kind of snowballed from there. How do you make an 8? Well, I missed about a seven-footer for a 7, so I made an 8.”

Good to see him laugh it off—he still shot a two-under 68 on the day for a T-6 finish—but we wouldn’t blame him if he spent the whole night staring at the ceiling wondering how it all went wrong.

The post Robert Streb pulls off multiple hero shots to claim RSM Classic over Kevin Kisner appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Shane Ryan
Camilo Villegas posted the lowest 36-hole score of his career over the first two days at the RSM Classic, and his story this week is inseparable from the death of his 22-month-old daughter Mia, who passed away in July from cancer. On Thursday, the PGA Tour’s Helen Ross posted a wonderful, heartbreaking story about Camilo and his wife Maria, who have shown tremendous courage in the aftermath of Mia’s death while attempting to bear the unbearable.

Their burden, like the burden faced by so many after a personal tragedy, amounts to a difficult choice that Villegas summed up to Ross when he related a conversation he had with Jack Nicklaus, who lost a 17-month-old grandson in a drowning accident in 2005:

“And it’s what I told him. I’ve got two options. I mean, I either have a good attitude or become the victim, and if I become the victim it’s going to go into a dark place. That’s definitely not where I want to be. That’s definitely not where Mia wants us to be.”

It’s one thing to say this, and another to live the reality, because the fact is that he and Maria are victims, and they are being asked by the universe to tolerate something that can break you—that, indeed, any parent can imagine breaking them. Maria, in particular, comes off as a person of astounding strength in Ross’ story, both in how she managed Mia’s illness while she was alive, and in how she has resolved to make something positive of her situation. They have done so spiritually in their example of resilience, and materially in raising money through their new foundation, Mia’s Miracles, while embracing the mystery of why it happened in the first place.

Many written perspectives on death tend to seek a resolution, a final redemptive word, when in fact life stretches on at its usual pace while pain takes its own hidden forms that are unknowable from the outside and are undoubtedly different for each person.

There was something a little remote about Villegas as he appeared before the media after his second-round 66 on Friday that left him two shots off Robert Streb. He stood in the flash area, dressed in bright white head-to-toe, and fielded a handful of questions tinged with hesitation. All of us gathered behind the barrier were likely thinking of questions surrounding his daughter, but none were asked. In particular, I was considering the strangeness of his situation as a public figure, in which he would likely have to field questions about Mia every time he had success on the course, and how this incredibly painful circumstance could be something he had to plan for, something that came up again and again from people who can’t understand, and who expect pat redemption quotes, and that might eventually require rote answers.

But how do you ask a question like that? And if it’s asked, isn’t there an ugly irony in perpetuating the very dynamic you’re trying to address? Isn’t there the same irony even in writing this piece?

Jennifer Perez
Camilo Villegas hits his tee shot on the 18th hole during the second round of the RSM Classic.

And so we asked about his round instead, and Villegas in his remoteness seemed to be his usual self, which is to say a little bit intense, a little bit prickly. When he ventured to the Golf Channel for his TV interview, they did ask him about Mia, and his response seemed to make it clear that he wanted to focus on golf.

“I’m going to be very honest with you,” he said, “there’s so much happening on the golf course, you’re so focused, and that’s what I’ve been doing all our life. Having my brother on the bag has helped, too. He keeps me in check, and we try to play golf when we’re out there. I said it yesterday, at the beginning of the day when I was on the range, there was a big rainbow. It was awesome. So once you get on that first tee, you try to focus on golf.”

As Golf Digest’s Christopher Powers wrote on Thursday, the entire golf world will be rooting for him this weekend, but the deeper truth is that his example in resilience, shared by Maria, is far more important than a win or loss. A win won’t redeem anything that’s already happened, and a loss won’t diminish the power of their choice.

When Villegas played a Korn Ferry Tour event this summer while Mia was ill, he said the words, “we have no option but to be strong.” In fact, there are other options, and it’s to his eternal credit that he chose what might be the hardest one. But I also thought on Friday of his description of his daughter while she was in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy, and how, months later, the words describe his journey this weekend, and the choice he and his wife keep making so well.

“She keeps inspiring me,” he said. “It’s unbelievable, what they go through … they can take a lot. I’ve seen it over the last two and a half months. Is she feeling pain? Yeah, she is. She keeps waking up the next day and looking at the TV, she wants me to put some cartoons or something there. She’s feeling pain, she’s playing with her toys. I remember at the beginning, she kept crying and playing. I didn’t really get that. I was like, ‘How can you cry and play?’ Hey, she wanted to play.”

The post Camilo Villegas plays on, just as his brave daughter did appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Through 18 holes of the RSM Classic, there are a handful of intriguing names at the top of the leaderboard, including England’s Matt Wallace, eternal nice guy Peter Malnati and 2011 PGA champion Keegan Bradley. The harsh reality: No one outside of their family members will be rooting for them the rest of the week.

The collective golf world will be clapping and cheering loudly for Camilo Villegas, who opened with a six-under 64 on Sea Island’s Seaside Course to grab a share of the lead. It marks his lowest round on the PGA Tour since, oddly enough, the third round of the 2016 RSM Classic, a week he wound up finishing runner-up after losing in a playoff. The 38-year-old from Colombia has posted just one top 10 in 42 tour starts since.

Less than four months ago, Villegas went through an unspeakable tragedy when he lost his 22-month-old daughter Mia to cancer. No one would have blamed him if he never picked up a club again, but in a heartfelt interview, Villegas said that he would attempt to reconnect himself with the game of golf and that “despite not being able to change what happened, we will try to seek to the future, with the memory of Mia by our side.”

After taking a month off, Villegas made his return to the Korn Ferry Tour in August. This season he is playing on a major medical extension, having made five starts so far in the PGA Tour’s “Super Season.” Given how seldom first-round leaders go on to actually win the tournament, we don’t want to jinx Villegas’ chances just yet. But simply put, if you’re not rooting for him to win this week, there is something wrong with you. Here’s what he had to say on Thursday when asked how he made his first round look so easy.

“It was kind of nice this morning,” Villegas said. “I got on the range and see a little rainbow out there. I start thinking about Mia and said hey, let’s have a good one. I was pretty free all day. It’s tough to be free under these conditions, but I found a way to do it.”

Welp, it could be a tissue-box-by-your-side weekend on the PGA Tour, folks. Go Camilo Go.

Here are three other takeaways from Thursday of the RSM Classic.

Sam Greenwood

Local knowledge goes a long way for Matt Wallace
Golf Digest’s own Shane Ryan has the full scoop from on-site this evening, but we still feel the need to point out Matt Wallace matched Villegas’ 64 with a local caddie on his bag. Unfortunately, Wallace’s full-time looper, Dave McNeilly, recently tested positive for COVID-19, forcing Wallace to have to act quickly to replace him. The Englishman was put in touch with Jeffrey Cammon, a member of the Sea Island Golf Club performance center staff. The result was a superb putting round from Wallace, who gained nearly 4.5 strokes on the greens, which ranks third in the field.

RELATED: Tiger Woods, son Charlie to team up at PNC Championship

“As soon as I found out that Dave tested positive, and luckily he was OK and everything, no symptoms, I messaged JP, Justin Parsons [a golf instructor at Sea Island], up here, who I know,” Wallace said. “I said I’ll take a local this week because of the two courses; I thought that was a good idea. I didn’t want to step on Dave’s toes as well with another pro caddie.

“He’s really chill,” Wallace said of Cammon. “He said, ‘What do you want me to say?’ That was the first question he said at the start of the week, ‘What do you want me to do or say?’ I was like, ‘Listen, mate, I don’t need anything. I’ll ask you a question and you answer it just with pure facts of what you think.’ It worked well today. I said to him, ‘Is the wind more out of the left than it is like helping,’ and he’s like, ‘Yep,’ and that was it. It was really simple. Struck the ball really nicely today and rolled the ball well.”

Good on Cammon. We sincerely wish McNeilly a speedy recovery, not only because that’s what you’re supposed to do, but because he’s going to need to recover quickly if he wants his job back.

Hat tip, Stewart Cink
No, Stewart Cink isn’t leading, nor is he even anywhere near the lead. In fact, he’s a full 10 shots back after his first-round 74, which matches his second-worst round of the season, a season in which the 47-year-old is enjoying a late-career renaissance. A Thursday 74 at the RSM doesn’t change that, and it certainly doesn’t change the fact that just by teeing it up, he made history, joining the 600-start club. Check out this great video from the PGA Tour:

It’s official.@StewartCink is a member of the 600-start club. ?

Listen to his playing partners discuss the impressive feat before his first tee shot this morning at @TheRSMClassic. pic.twitter.com/eTkWixOxQv

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 19, 2020

Poor Zach Johnson. Guy just went about his business today, shot a four-under 66 and he’s going to open up Twitter later and have to listen to himself get bodybagged by, of all people, Webb Simpson. Take it easy, Webb! Love the Sungjae Im and Charles Howell III shoutouts as well.

All kidding aside, an incredible achievement from Cink, who only has 203 starts to go to catch the all-time leader, Mark Brooks. Good luck with that.

So far, so good for the Sea Island mafia
One of the storylines entering every RSM Classic is “how will the guys who reside there fare with such a huge home-course advantage?” So far, so good for a few of the mafia members, including Patton Kizzire, who, despite having just one top 10 on tour since January 2019, shot a five-under 65 on the more difficult Seaside Course on Thursday. Harris English, a former Georgia Bulldog, also got his home game off to a strong start on Thursday with a 66 on the Seaside Course. Local knowledge on Sea Island may not be worth as much as it as at a place like Augusta National, but it always helps no matter where you are, as we’re seeing this week.

The post Apologies to the rest of the RSM field, but the whole golf world is rooting for Camilo Villegas appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
The PGA Tour announced Monday that Camilo Villegas’ daughter Mia passed away over the weekend. She was 22 months old.

At a June Korn Ferry Tour event at TPC Sawgrass, an emotional Villegas, 38, told the press that Mia was battling tumours.

“She went through surgery and obviously needed treatment. She just started her second round of chemotherapy,” Villegas said. “It’s been really tough to see her—because you know how it is, she’s in pain. But she keeps fighting, she’s inspiring us and again that’s why I’m here.”

Villegas said the family noticed something was wrong with Mia in late February at the Honda Classic. After initially believing Mia’s crying was due to teething, a visit to the pediatrician and subsequent scan revealed tumours on Mia’s brain and spine. Villegas said the prognosis was unclear.

“We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. She started her second round of chemo; the doctor doesn’t want to do a very detailed scan until after a third round. It’s some anxious times,” Villegas said.

Villegas, a four-time PGA Tour winner, has not played since his appearance at TPC Sawgrass.

“The PGA Tour is deeply saddened having lost a member of our family, Mia Villegas,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement. “We grieve with Camilo and Maria, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Villegas family.”

The post Camilo Villegas’ daughter passes away at 22 months old appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
The PGA Tour resumes operations this week and one of its players will do so with a heavy heart.

On Wednesday, an emotional Camilo Villegas—who is playing at the Korn Ferry Tour event at TPC Sawgrass—announced his 20-month-old daughter Mia is battling tumours.

“She went through surgery and obviously needed treatment; she just started her second round of chemotherapy,” Villegas said. “It’s been really tough to see her—because you know how it is, she’s in pain. But she keeps fighting, she’s inspiring us and again that’s why I’m here.”

Villegas, 38, said the family noticed something was wrong with Mia in late February at the Honda Classic. After initially believing Mia’s crying was due to teething, a visit to the pediatrician and subsequent scan revealed tumours on Mia’s brain and spine. Villegas said the prognosis is unknown.

“We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. She started her second round of chemo; the doctor doesn’t want to do a very detailed scan until after a third round. It’s some anxious times,” Villegas said. “Hopefully the medicine is doing the right job and in a month and a half or two we’ll get some good news and we’ll continue with treatment until she beats it.”

Villegas had been dealing with physical woes of his own, missing half of the 2018 season and all of the 2019 with a shoulder injury. He has made four starts this year on a medical extension, including three on the Korn Ferry circuit, and felt like his game and health were on the upswing.

Mia’s well-being, however, is now Villegas’ chief concern. He decided to play this week at TPC Sawgrass at the urging of his wife to clear his mind.

Villegas admitted he’s not sure where his game will be, but wants everyone to know this week is all about sending his family “good energy, support and inspiration.”

“You’ve got to follow your instincts, and honestly I don’t know if my instincts are to come play this week; it’s been weird. I don’t really know where my mind is. I know where my heart is,” Villegas said. “But you also have to listen to the people that love you, and that’s what my wife said: just go out there and enjoy. Golf is what you’ve done the years, golf has given you so many great things, and little Mia is inspiring the last few months to keep doing what we’re doing.

“So, that’s why I’m here. What’s going to happen, who knows. Play good, good. Play bad, good. But again, it’s just nice to be here.”

The post Camilo Villegas announces daughter is battling tumors appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

There’s a new @NFL show in town. Watch highlights, features and commentary from @RichEisen every single week of the football season.#NFLTheGrind premieres Next Wednesday, Sept. 11th at 9/8c, only on EPIX: https://t.co/YKFfkK5xIX pic.twitter.com/bhvQ2Rhrbn

— EPIX is becoming MGM+ (@EPIXHD) September 5, 2019

On second thought, considering the lawyers at the NFL’s disposal, including a certain commissioner, forget I said anything. Please don’t hurt me, NFL! There’s plenty of room in the world for another The Grind. And to be fair, it’s a pretty common phrase. So Rich, you do your thing and I’ll do mine! Sound good? Good. OK, let’s pretend this conversation never happened and move on …

WE’RE BUYING

Team USA: USA! USA! The Americans won the Walker Cup with a final-day comeback led by, well, basically everyone won their Sunday singles match.

David Cannon/Getty Images

It’s the first time a Walker Cup has been won on the road since the fabled U.S. squad of 2007 that included Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson, Billy Horschel, Kyle Stanley and Jamie Lovemark. Talk about a Dream Team. But the 2019 version proved to be pretty formidable, too—especially considering guys like Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa could have been on the team if they hadn’t turned pro. Oh yeah, I’m also buying those pants. Talk about making a statement!

Paul Casey: One of those, “Why doesn’t he win more?” golfers, Casey added to his career victory total at the Porsche European Open. For someone who plays so much great golf around the world, incredibly, it was Casey’s first European Tour title in nearly five years and the 14th of his career. OK, so 14 wins—to go with three PGA Tour titles—is nothing to sneeze at, but, yeah, why doesn’t he win more? I mean, congrats, Paul!

Brooks Koepka’s commercials/acting: Koepka’s two new ESPN SportsCenter ads aren’t the best I’ve seen (to be fair, ESPN has set a pretty high bar), but Brooks does a nice job with the parts he was given. Check them out:

I wonder if he’ll get needled in the locker room moreover those commercials or appearing in the ESPN Body Issue? Then again, he’s Brooks Koepka, so he couldn’t care less.

Sara Winter’s luck: Fun fact! The former Miss Universe Canada was featured in the first-ever episode of The Grind a few years back for making an ace. (You know because we’ve been around for a WHILE, Rich Eisen.) Let’s take a trip down memory lane!

Wow, seems like just yesterday. (Except it definitely was NOT yesterday, Rich Eisen.) Anyway, Winter made two more aces in the past couple weeks giving her a total of five. Must be nice.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1sKHOYnOKx/?utm_source=ig_embed

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2KO7pBH9OJ/?utm_source=ig_embed

A Miss Universe candidate who makes holes-in-one left and right, huh? We wish her the best in life because clearly she doesn’t have a lot going for her.

WE’RE SELLING

Walker Cup TV coverage: Or, lack thereof. Somehow, despite there being no PGA Tour or LPGA Tour events on the schedule, the Walker Cup wasn’t shown live. Anywhere. The brunt of the blame falls on the R&A, which limited broadcast coverage in the U.S. and the U.K. to merely one-hour highlight packages each night. It’s 2019, people! I can’t watch golf’s top amateur team competition, but I can watch competitive eating and cornhole? What a world.

Matt Kuchar’s rules interpretations: Is this guy just trying to sabotage his reputation at this point?

Announcers were not too happy pic.twitter.com/Jnd9GItyPq

— Ladiestees (@Ladiestees1) September 6, 2019

Technically, Kuchar didn’t break any rules with his waste bunker rearranging in Germany (he missed the cut anyway—golf gods!), but this is not within the spirit of the rules, no matter how loosey-goosey they’ve gotten.

Golf’s animal/worm rule: Paul Casey’s win included this made putt in which his golf ball rolled over a bug:

One of the weirder golfing rules… ?@Paul_Casey #PEO2019 pic.twitter.com/v0gmmDNJk8

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 6, 2019

Turns out, Paul would have to replay the stroke if he had purposely hit the bug (Or an animal of any kind). You know, because a golfer would actually do that. So to summarize, you can’t intentionally play a shot off a freaking animal, but you are allowed to give yourself a perfect lie in a waste bunker. Makes sense! Golf’s rules are so ZANY!

ON TAP

The PGA Tour is back! And the 2019-’20 season kicks off with A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. I feel patriotic just saying that. This is that tournament that features commercials of Phil Mickelson talking up his house on the West Virginia property and all the activities he likes to do there, including falconry. Or, phalconry, in Phil’s case. Love that commercial.

Random tournament fact: Phil Mickelson is NOT in the field this week. He must be taking a break from falconry. Unless, of course, he’s found better falconry elsewhere. But that’s hard to believe because The Greenbrier offers some pretty darn good falconry. At least, according to Phil.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Phil will be doing some falconry this week: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds
—Bryson DeChambeau will win The Greenbrier: 12-to-1 odds (Actual odds, favourite)
—Bryson DeChambeau would enjoy falconry: LOCK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2FKqnRJCDt/?utm_source=ig_embed

Sorry to hear about the bum knee, DJ, but nice to see you using your time off to do good for others. And to everyone else, here’s a link to the American Red Cross Hurricane Dorian fund. Let’s all chip in.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Little windy across the pond @RLGCHoylake Time to get @WalkerCup started! ?????? pic.twitter.com/EwLgcQHqX6

— Cole Hammer (@cole_hammer6765) September 6, 2019

Looks like fun! Nope!

VIRAL VIDEO(S) OF THE WEEK (ON-COURSE WALL DIVISION)

Sometimes you eat the wall:

North Berwick! I always end up on this side of the wall. Here is how you do it! pic.twitter.com/NSi42lXrH6

— BK Top Golf (@Top100golfquest) September 7, 2019

And sometimes, well, the wall eats you:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2M4neXFS6n/?utm_source=ig_embed

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Akshay Bhatia on the Americans’ Sunday singles pant selection: “If you’re going to wear these pants, you have to win.” pic.twitter.com/8BLJZK9LL6

— Brentley Romine (@BrentleyGC) September 8, 2019

Couldn’t agree more.

THIS WEEK IN TOUR PRO PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2HquI1jXTQ/?utm_source=ig_embed

Confirmed: Camilo Villegas and his wife are still in great shape.

THIS WEEK IN TOUR PROS ARE JUST LIKE US

Rafa Cabrera-Bello discovers he can rock his newborn baby—and work on his game:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2Ce_Y7p8PJ/?utm_source=ig_embed

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITIES PLAYING GOLF

Apparently, Jada Pinkett Smith is all about golf these days:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2ALHVVDfqZ/?utm_source=ig_embed

Good to see, Jada. The USGA should pay her to run that as a “Grow the Game” commercial.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Had my first hole in one. Sort of. ? pic.twitter.com/xeFeFPDDd5

— Joel Darling (@JWD99) September 6, 2019

That is just perfection right there. Might be the tweet of the year.

THIS AND THAT

Kyle Berkshire, 22, overcame a field of 96, a minor rules controversy, and being down to his final ball in the Round of 16 to win his first World Long Drive Championship. What a beast. … Rafael Nadal was penalized two first serves during the fifth set of the U.S. Open championship match for playing too slowly. I hope golf’s governing bodies were watching. … Shout-out to my high school’s football team for pulling off a huge upset over the town my father-in-law is mayor of (talk about a conflict of interest!) in the first game since the tragic passing of assistant coach Tom Roksvold during our annual golf trip this summer:

??? pic.twitter.com/6T85EgxmVy

— Pelham Football (@PMHSFOOTBALL) September 6, 2019

Amazing. Go Pelicans, and RIP Roks. … And finally, shout-out to my ex-boss at Golf Digest John Marvel, who now works at the NFL. More specifically, to his son, James, who got called up to the Major Leagues:

Cool moment for the Marvel family! @j_marvel pic.twitter.com/Eqs6VXbn34

— Matt Kumagai (@mattkumagai) September 8, 2019

All parents brag about their kids—and John was no different in the office—but the difference is his kid made it to the freaking MAJORS! He should have been bragging more! Anyway, James pitched pretty well in his debut, allowing two runs over five innings. Of course, he took the loss, though, because the Pirates stink and didn’t score a run. Regardless, pretty awesome.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Is it too early to start training my 17-month-old?
Is it too late to trademark “The Grind”?
Should I ask John Marvel to talk to Rich Eisen? (Kidding, NFL!)

The post Brooks Koepka’s SportsCenter spots, Matt Kuchar’s latest controversy, and a Miss Universe’s hole-in-one rampage appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.