Gator Bait

After his dominating winning effort at the 2010 Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Camilo Villegas may have successfully renamed the infamous ‘Bear Trap.’ The Jack Nicklaus designed PGA National has been a pain in the side for a lot of players who tee it up for the first event of the Florida swing. Its strategically placed bunkers and water hazards make for a risk reward set up for everyone who takes the challenge. The finishing holes are some of the most nerve-jangling shots this side of Sawgrass, and are the basis for the ‘Bear Trap’ moniker. But the former Florida Gator stand out, turned the notorious ‘Bear Trap’ into Gator Bait.

Villegas got off to a quick start in the first round on Thursday with a four under 66 in the easiest scoring conditions of the week. He followed that stellar round with a matching 66 on Friday and moved to the weekend in prime championship position tied atop the leader board with fellow young super star Anthony Kim. After Villegas fired another excellent round of 67 on Saturday, coupled with Kim’s 73, the Colombian star held an impressive three shot lead going into the final round over Australian Nathan Green and tour veteran Vijay Singh.

By the time Villegas made the turn he was sitting on a five shot lead and ready to coast into the clubhouse. But at PGA National one can never overlook the claws of the ‘Bear Trap’ that always looms ahead…

And it may have been in the back of Camilo’s head when he got a bit loose with bogies on 11 and 12. He added another bogey to his card on the par three 15th, but at this point the lead was pretty much insurmountable. He was able to cash in pars at the dangerous 16th and 17th which set up an easy walk in the park four shot lead on the 18th tee. As he had done 21 other times during the week, he executed to perfection for another birdie and a 5 shot victory over Kim who rallied for solo second. A scorching final round 64 gave charging Justin Rose solo 3rd and match play runner up Paul Casey joined Singh for T4.

This win has been much anticipated for Villegas, who was winless in the 2009 season after taking home the season’s final event in 2008 at the Tour Championship. Camilo’s slump worried many people in the golf world, because with Tiger on the shelf, the Tour is counting on promotable stars like Villegas to step up. 2010 has been able to cash in on wins from these young, established and promotable players like Villegas, Mahan, Poulter and Ogilvy. Getting players like this wins and exposure is great for the PGA Tour during the Tiger sabbatical.

This victory was Villegas’ 3rd career win, but was not a necessity for getting into the Masters, as his 2009 T13 performance at Augusta automatically got him in the field. But Villegas has not been overly successful in the Masters in his 3 career appearances making only the one cut, and missing the weekend in both 2007 and 2008. But he is definitely the type of player who is getting better and growing with the tour every week, making him a factor every time he tees it up. After he gobbled up the ‘Bear Trap’ this week he is more than ready for the Masters, and maybe after he’s done there, they’ll have to rename another vaunted stretch of holes…

How does ‘Camilo’s Corner’ sound?