Perturbed by last week's finish, Villegas bounces back
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
SAN DIEGO -- The thorns of the cactus that attached themselves to the fleshy side of Camilo Villegas' hand only added insult to injury.
What actually hurt worse was that early exit he made at the FBR Open when Villegas bogeyed his final hole on Friday.
"I wasn't very proud of the way I missed the cut last week," he acknowledged. "I think I played better than I scored. My short game wasn't very good, so I decided to show up early here and work hard on it."
Villegas spent Monday in Carlsbad, Calif., at the Titleist Performance Institute fine-tuning his chipping and his irons, trying to get the right spin with all his clubs. And judging by his performance during the first round of the Buick Invitational the time was well-spent.
Villegas tied his career low of 63 on the North Course to seize a three-stroke lead over Davis Love III and Aaron Baddeley. All three must now tackle last year's U.S. Open venue on Friday when there's a 90 percent chance of rain.
While some players wasted time complaining about the luck -- or, lack of it -- of the draw, though, the young Colombian was philosophical.
"You've got to play both golf courses," Villegas said. "The North Course is not playing that easy. The greens are bumpy, and I know the rough is a little patchy so you can get away with it with a little luck.
"The South Course the rough is up. It's tough. It was very firm during the pro am. I mean, if it rains a little, it's going to get softer, the rough is going to get a little more severe, too. Who knows, man? Just go out there and hit some shots."
Villegas seemingly had all the shots on Thursday -- including a 63-degree wedge he holed for an eagle at the second hole that was sandwiched between two birdies. To be 4 under after three holes was "very motivating" Villegas said, and he didn't let up until he chipped in for an eighth and final birdie at the 17th hole.
Villegas has been using that 63-degree wedge since the first event of last year's PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. He won the final two -- the first two victories of his career -- and finished second to Vijay Singh in the FedExCup.
"(Bob) Vokey ... does a great job with my wedges," Villegas said. "There's some shots that I couldn't hit before, and this one I can really nip it. Playing with the greens and with the rough that we've been playing on TOUR, it's obviously a good tool."
To make room for the trusty wedge, Villegas took his 4-iron out of his bag. He made the 3-iron a degree weaker and his 5-iron one degree stronger to compensate.
Villegas's adventure with the desert fauna happened on his next-to-last hole at the TPC Scottsdale. The towel his caddy was carrying caught some cactus and when Villegas reached out to clean his grip, his hand became a pin cushion.
For several minutes, Villegas tried in vain to pick the thorns out of his hand. One of his female fans offered a pair of tweezers that did the trick, though.
"I hit a great shot after that, and like I said, I missed the putt and then went on to bogey the last one and missed the cut by one," Villegas said. "But again, we're here, excited about my round today and looking forward to tomorrow."
Ironically, Villegas' first two TOUR wins came in events where Tiger Woods was the defending champion -- but was unable to play due to his knee surgery. Sound familiar? He's won the last four at Torrey Pines, and Villegas owns the lead.
"I'm glad he's not here," Villegas said with a grin. "He plays pretty good around here, I can tell you that. But he'll be fine. He'll come back healthy. At the same time I'm looking forward to it. ... The game of golf misses him."
A healthy Woods would provide another one of the challenges the methodical Villegas relishes. He has made a steady climb since graduating from Florida in 2004 and Villegas is now regarded as one of the TOUR's brightest young stars.
"Winning at the end of the year was very gratifying," he said. "Man, it felt good. But at the same time, we all start from zero on Thursday. You can either stay at home, you can chill, you can relax, you can keep thinking about those wins, or you can start thinking about getting even better.
"I think I'll take the second part and just try to keep improving, keep working with all the guys, all the team that's behind me, and challenging myself."
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