Veteran Camilo Villegas captures Bermuda title for first PGA Tour win since 2014

BERMUDA – As Camilo Villegas ended a nine-year PGA Tour title drought by winning the Bermuda Championship on Sunday, he credited the “energy that kept building up” and his “little one up there watching”.

The Colombian was referring to the support he received in Bermuda and his daughter Mia, who died of cancer in 2020 two months before her second birthday.

Villegas, 41, had fired six birdies to card a six-under 65 to finish at 24-under 260 at Port Royal Golf Course. In the process, he overtook Swede Alex Noren, the leader after each of the first three rounds, who had to settle for second spot by two shots after a final-day 68.

“Tough to put in words right now, but wow, what a ride, man,” said Villegas, whose last PGA Tour win came at the Wyndham Championship in August 2014.

He entered last week’s World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico ranked No. 752 in the Official World Golf Ranking and rocketed to No. 318 when he tied for second, his best result of the season until Sunday’s victory.

More importantly, Villegas leapt to 75th in the FedEx Cup Fall series, ensuring he will finish inside the top 125 to retain full PGA Tour status for the 2024 season. That was a long shot two weeks ago, when he sat at No. 223.

“I felt the energy, it kept building up,” he said. “Everybody here on the island was great and just rooting me on.”

Villegas, who looked skywards after capturing his fifth PGA Tour trophy, then paid tribute to Mia, who died three years ago owing to tumours in her brain and spine.

“I believe in energy and I’ve got my little one up there watching it, smiling – she’s where she needs to be after a long fight,” he added.

Villegas had started the day one shot behind Noren. He made six birdies without a bogey on his final trip around Port Royal, sinking three straight from the third to fifth holes and another at the par-five seventh.

Noren made three birdies over his first seven but tripped up with consecutive bogeys at the ninth and 10th holes, giving Villegas the outright lead at 22 under. Villegas would not let it out of his grasp, adding birdies from holes 15 to 17 to seal the deal.

Noren, 41, has won 10 times on the DP World Tour but was seeking his first PGA Tour victory. He admitted that he made “a few wayward shots on the back nine” and just could not match Villegas on the final day.

Germany’s Matti Schmid (67) finished third at 21 under and China’s Carl Yuan (66) was fourth at 20 under.

They moved into the 120th and 125th positions in the FedEx Cup Fall, respectively, with one event remaining this week at the RSM Classic in Georgia.

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy sealed top place in the DP World Tour rankings on Sunday without hitting a shot as none of his closest challengers can now catch him after the season’s penultimate event in South Africa.

McIlroy, who made more than €7 million (S$10 million) in prize money in nine tour events this season, has now finished top of the former European Tour money list five times, first in 2012 and again in 2014, 2015 and 2022.

The 34-year-old Northern Irishman, with 5,164.5 points going into this week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, is 2,083 points ahead of second-placed Jon Rahm, the Masters champion.

In third place is Adrian Meronk, who finished tied-15th at the Nedbank Challenge in Sun City, South Africa, after a final-day 72 gave him a six-under 282.

American Max Homa won the tournament after firing a 66 to finish on 269, four shots ahead of Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard (68). REUTERS, AFP