Camilo Villegas Ties for Third at St. Jude Classic
Camilo Villegas' season started with a disqualification and had not gotten much better until Sunday at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis. Villegas finally broke into the top 10 for the first time in 2011, tying for third with a gaggle of good players that included Tim Herron, Ryuji Imada, Charles Howell III and Retief Goosen.
The third-place finish is not only his best finish in 2011 but also his best since a T9 at the Tour Championship in September.
"It's a funny game," Villegas said. "That's all I can say. It's always teaching you. It's never as good as you think it is and it's never as bad as you think it is."
Every part of his game has contributed to his struggles, with his scoring average of 72.38 ranking 172nd on the PGA Tour before the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
A final-round 64 and Villegas has appeared to figure it out. The 6-under score was his best score on the PGA Tour by two shots and his lowest score since a 62 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in January 2010.
"I think if you can learn to just be a little more in the present and just forget that I've done this or I should do this, that's not going to do much," Villegas said. "You just have to say 'I am going to hit this shot the best I can' and keep plugging."
Stuart Hall is editor of the Golf Press Association.
