Tag Archives: Camilo Villegas

PGATOUR.COM – Daily Wrap-up: Round 2, The Honda Classic

by Scott

PGATOUR.COM – Daily Wrap-up: Round 2, The Honda Classic.

Rookie Kyle Stanley is certainly golfing his ball thus far this week. He’s one of only two players who has managed two rounds in the 60′s in the difficult conditions this week at the Honda Classic. Stanley enjoys a 1-shot lead heading into the weekend, 6-under par for the tournament.

Only one shot back of Stanley is a name that hasn’t been seen on too many leaderboards for quite some time – Rory Sabbatini. But he was near the top of the leaderboard after an amazing 6-under 64 on Friday, tying the course record in the process. He’s only one shot back of the leader, 5-under going into Saturday.

Alone in 3rd place is Charl Schwartzel, the other player in the field to post sub-70 rounds through the first two days this week at the Honda Classic. Charl is 3 shots back, sitting comfortably at 3-under par for the event.

For a full recap of Friday’s action at the Honda Classic, click the PGATOUR.COM link at the top of this post.

Scouting the Honda Classic

by Scott

Coming off of an exciting week with the world’s top 64 players dueling it out in the WGC Matchplay, the PGA Tour rolls into Palm Beach Gardens, FL this week for the first leg of the Florida Swing.

The Field

European Notables: Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter, Edoardo Molinari.

Notable Young Guns: Rickie Fowler, Jhonattan Vegas, Anthony Kim, Defending Champ – Camilo Villegas

2011 PGA Tour Winners: Jhonattan Vegas, D.A. Points, Luke Donald

30-and-over Notables: Ernie Els, Matt Kuchar, Vijay Singh, Y.E. Yang, Stuart Appleby, Robert Allenby, Robert Karlsson

For the complete field listing and pairings, click HERE.

The Course

The Champion Course at PGA National Resort and Spa was originally designed by architectural well-known Tom Fazio back in 1981, before Jack Nicklaus tweaked the layout back in 2001. The Honda Classic tournament migrated here back in 2007, marking the 5th official year that the tournament will have been played at the Champion Course. The normal setup that the players will face this week measures 7158 yards, with a par-value of 70. Typical of most Florida Swing courses, the Champion Course has plenty of water in play with over 26 water hazards, and bermuda greens that will most likely be stimped just shy of 12.

No different than any other tournament venue, the predominant wind can easily influence scoring this week… but much more so here at the Champion Course – where a player generally faces a pretty stout breeze that only seems to get stronger as the day progresses. The par3 15th, the short par4 16th, and the short par3 17th all represent the notoriously tough stretch of holes known as “The Bear Trap.” This stretch of three holes ranked 2nd in difficulty on tour last season, with Quail Hollow’s 16th, 17th, and 18th taking top honors. The most difficult hole at Champion Course is the long par4 6th measuring 479 yards. This hole yielded only 41 birdies in last year’s tournament, while doling out 128 bogeys, 32 doubles, and 5 “others.” The easiest hole is the short par5 3rd, which averaged 4.69 strokes in 2010. Interestingly enough, last week’s winner at the WGC Accenture Matchplay – Luke Donald – shares the course record of 64 with Australian Greg Chalmers. Donald set the record back in 2008, and Chalmers tied it in 2009.

The Conditions

Rains from earlier in the week have softened the course, so the greens should be fairly receptive on Thursday. But the players can expect gusting winds in excess of 20 mph, and a slight chance of rain on Friday. The wind will be a constant challenge here throughout the four days, but overall the forecast looks relatively good. I don’t think the players will have to worry about hail and snow this Sunday.

Should be yet another exciting tournament ahead this week.

TV Coverage Thurs & Fri: 3:00-6:00 EST, TGC  /  Sat & Sun: 3:00-6:00 EST, NBC

 

Scouting the Waste Management Phoenix Open

by Scott

The tour is headed to the desert this week, as Hunter Mahan hopes to defend his title at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Thursday.

Eight Notables to Watch For

It’s unusual to be contemplating a multiple-win season this early in the year, but that’s precisely what last week’s winner Bubba Watson has on his mind this week as he tees it up in Phoenix. Watson’s game is already in tip-top form, and he has more than enough length to go low at TPC Scottsdale. If he can continue the clutch putting, he will be one that the field will have to contend with over the weekend.   

Phil Mickelson is hoping to pick up where he left off last week at Torrey Pines, as he’ll be the main attraction at TPC Scottsdale this week. Lefty has won this event twice, going back to 1996 and then again in 2005.

Hunter Mahan shot 12-under on the weekend here last season in route to his first Phoenix Open title, so obviously he’s comfortable with the layout. Hunter had a good showing in the Farmers Insurance Open last week, so I expect him to play well once again this week.

The youth movement has officially been served on tour, but it could be argued that Rickie Fowler ushered it in last season at this very event. The (then) rookie’s 3-under performance on Sunday just wasn’t quite enough to catch eventual champion Hunter Mahan, as Fowler would have to settle for 2nd place. No longer a rookie, Fowler is hoping to use his experience from last season to help him earn his first professional win this week. Rickie began his first official round of 2011 on a great note, firing a 7-under round of 66 on Thursday at Torrey Pines last week, but would struggle over the remaining three rounds to finish T20.

Long driving J.B. Holmes didn’t quite get the start to his 2011 season that he was expecting last week at Torrey Pines, struggling over the weekend with rounds of 75 and 76 to finish T63. But his unbridled power has served him well at TPC Scottsdale over the years, winning this event back in 2006 and again in 2008.

As if two of the tour’s longest hitters in the field this week aren’t enough…. Dustin Johnson will be launching a few missiles of his own this week in Phoenix. DJ had a solid showing last week at Torrey Pines, firing a last-minute 6-under 66 on Sunday to finish T3 at the Farmers Insurance Open. He’s only played this event once, back in 2009 where he failed to make the cut. But unless it turns out that desert golf just isn’t his cup of tea – I suspect he’ll fair a little better this time around.

2011 hasn’t been overly kind to Camilo Villegas thus far. Obviously there was the DQ in the season opener at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions last month, followed by a missed cut a week later in the Sony Open. Camilo was around for the weekend at Torrey last week, but his 1-under finish that left him T44 didn’t exactly warrant an abundance of TV time. That could change this week, as Villegas will be looking to rekindle the desert fire that sparked his season last year, where he won the first WGC event of 2010 at the Accenture Matchplay Championship and then finished T8 in this event a week later.

The big story on tour early this season is hoping to make an even bigger story for himself again this week in Phoenix. Jhonattan Vegas may be a rookie, but he’s certainly not playing like one…. through the first 10 rounds of his PGA Tour career, “Jhonny” Vegas has carded only one round in the 70′s – which was a nerve-wracking 71 in his tour debut at the Sony Open. He nearly sealed Rookie of the Year honors last week at Torrey Pines, before finding the hazard with his approach on the final hole that effectively ended his hopes of winning back-to-back events. Nevertheless, his T3 finish last week continues to impress upon the belief that he’s not just another “Jhonny come lately”, as he continues to be front-and-center of the discussion of most current tour talk.

Maybe it’s a serious bout of Cabin Fever kicking my ass, but the “weak” events suddenly don’t seem as weak as they used to….

TV Times: (Thurs and Fri) The Golf Channel – 4-7 pm EST (Sat and Sun) CBS – 3-6 pm EST.


This Week’s PGA Tour News Items

by Scott

It’s been a slow golf news week, folks. Doing my best here to make something out of nothing…

So how exactly does one “Tweet” his way back on tour?

Some people have absolutely no shame…. as if a $100 million lawsuit that included a children’s charity wasn’t a clue? Apparently a John Daly fan has opened an account on Twitter in an attempt to start a “Grass Roots” movement to impress upon the the tournament sponsors next season of the need to have Daly in the field.  STORY

I’ve got two responses to that: (1) Grass Roots of the Cannabis type, maybe. (2) When a player has come to rely on the social media to maintain his career, he is no longer a player. He’s an opportunist.

Live rodeo coverage would be better…

So much for The Golf Channel being serious about sprucing up their coverage. TGC just announced that beginning January 3rd, they will be airing a new morning segment called “Morning Drive” that will not only focus on golf, but weather reports and other non-golf news items happening across the nation as well. Erik Kuselias and Gary Williams will be hosting the show for the 20 or so viewers who can’t find the remote to change the channel.  ARTICLE

When they ask you to captain it, that usually means you’re no longer good enough to play in it…

Rumors earlier in the year about Davis Love III being the US Ryder Cup Captain in 2012 might soon be a rumor no longer. The Golf Channel is reporting that a source close to the situation has confirmed that DL3 will be the guy leading the American charge to reclaim the Cup in the next event. The media in the UK also reported on Thursday that Jose Maria Olazabal will likely be the Captain on the European side.  ARTICLE

From the “I’ve got another one in the oven” files…

Apparently Annika Sorenstam isn’t spending EVERY ounce of her time in her golf course design business. News broke earlier this week that Sorenstam and her husband are expecting their second child early next summer. Congrats to them both!  STORY

Weir’s caddie resigns, will loop for Sean O’Hair in 2011

“I know that (Little) has to look after his family, and my situation, while I remain confident, is certainly not all that stable at the moment. He’ll be great with Sean and I predict big things for them next year.”  – Mike Weir commenting on his caddy’s decision to work with Sean O’Hair next season.

Mike Weir has always been on my “likable player” radar, and here’s just one more example of why. I’m guessing that he wasn’t expecting his caddie of 12 seasons to end their partnership and move on, but he understands the situation and holds no grudges. I hope Mike fully recovers from his injury and regains the form to be one of the top players on tour again. Best wishes in 2011, Mike.     STORY

Els, Goosen not impressed with course conditions at SA Open

Ernie, Retief…. here, let me throw you both some cheese.

I don’t doubt that the course conditions there vary greatly this week from the typical perfectly-manicured surfaces you guys play most weeks elsewhere. But if you have a complaint, do the respectful thing and keep it in-house. It’s not like you guys had to shell out $100 to play on aerated greens. I don’t blame you for being disappointed, I just don’t see the comments being made openly serving much of a purpose. ARTICLE

Camilo Villegas’ caddie heading to Nationwide Tour

You might recall earlier last month when I posted a blog about Camilo’s caddie (Brett Waldman) giving Q-school a shot. He ended up doing better than just giving it a shot…. he made it all the way to the final stage. Waldman didn’t play quite well enough to earn his PGA Tour card, but he did earn a spot on the Nationwide Tour. And that’s where he will be next season, as Camilo finds himself looking for another looper. ARTICLE


From Caddie to Tour Player?

by Scott

Great story unfolding in this year’s Q-school. Hell, they’re all great stories, but this one is kinda different. Brett Waldman, Camilo Villegas‘ regular tour caddie, has made it through the first two stages and will be trying to be one of the 25 players in the field to earn a PGA Tour card. The final stage begins play next week at Orange County National in Orlando, Florida.

VILLEGAS’ CADDIE MAKES IT TO FINAL STAGE OF Q-SCHOOL

Camilo Villegas to Pose Nude for Magazine

by Scott

I was going to say something very critical about this, but then I asked myself this question. Would I have a problem with Natalie Gulbis doing something of this nature??? My answer, of course, is absolutely, positively NO. I would not have an issue with her doing that. Matter of fact, the only issue I would have is the issue of the magazine that she would appear in.

To each his own. Or in this case, her own. Or his own, if that’s your preference…..

NY TIMES ARTICLE – CAMILO VILLEGAS TO POSE NUDE