Camilo Villegas (born January 7, 1982) is a
Colombian professional golfer who plays on the PGA
Tour.
Villegas was born in Medellín, Colombia, and took up
the game as a child. He excelled as a junior and
earned a scholarship to play collegiate golf at the
University of Florida. He was a three-time All
American there, and was the Southeastern Conference
Player of the Year in 2002 and 2004. He won the 2001
Colombian Open as an amateur.
He is known for his commitment to physical fitness,
and in the June 2006 issue of Golf Digest he was
named "the most ripped player on tour, Tiger Woods
included." Villegas has also gained notoriety for
sporting flashy dress clothing by designer J.
Lindeberg.
An alumnus of the University of Florida, he
frequently visits the University of Florida golf
course when he is spending time in his home town of
Gainesville, Florida. Camilo resides near
Gainesville Country Club, located in the Southwest
side of town.
He began playing on the PGA Tour in 2004 and earned
his PGA Tour card just prior to the 2006 season.
Villegas had a blistering start to his 2006 rookie
year on tour, with two second place finishes and a
third place (at The Players Championship) in his
first nine events. He missed making the 2006 Masters
Tournament in his rookie year by a single position
on the Official PGA Tour Money List (11th). However,
he made his first Masters' appearance in 2007 by
finishing in the top 40 of the Official PGA Tour
Money List for 2006. Villegas recently qualified for
the 2008 Masters through his exceptional play during
the inaugural FedEx Cup Playoff system, that
included an opening round 63 (8 under par) at the
Deutsche Bank Championship and three straight top 10
finishes. Villegas entered the FedEx Cup playoffs in
52nd place and improved to 28th place through his
play in the first three events, thus qualifying for
the 30-man field at the Tour Championship in
Atlanta, Georgia, where he finished in the top 10
for the third straight week and finished 24th on the
FedEx Cup points list.
Villegas won his second professional event at the
Coca-Cola Tokai Classic on the Japan Golf Tour in
September of 2007. By doing so, he earned
￥24,000,000 (approximately $208,272). Villegas shot
a score of 282 (-2) and defeated Toyokazu Fujishima
in a playoff by draining a 20 foot putt on the
winning hole.
Villegas has recently climbed to a career high 52 in
the Official World Golf Rankings.
Villegas' tremendous physical power allows him to
drive the ball far away from the tee box, averaging
302.1 yards in the 2006 season. He also adapts a
homemade putting routine: while he reads a putt, he
crouches down parallel to the ground without
touching it, extending his left leg back while
balancing with his right leg and his putter to get a
better view of the slope of the green. He is given
the nickname "Hombre Araña" (Spider-Man) for this
posture.
