Thursday
Aug202009
Villegas takes over
Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 11:15PM
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Writing from Town and Country, Mo.
Camilo Villegas slept so well holding a share of the lead in the 105th Western Open, he went and took the other half of it from Jim Furyk on Sunday morning.
Villegas, who had five holes remaining after play was suspended by darkness on Saturday evening, birdied the par-4 eighth hole, the 17th of his round, to move to 13 under par. He parred the par-4 ninth to complete a 4-under-par 66, finishing at 13-under 197, a stroke ahead of Furyk.
And it could have been better. He followed his curling 11-foot birdie on the eighth by nearly making a 54-footer for a bird on the ninth. The ball missed the cup by two inches.
As the leaders tee off for the final round of the retitled BMW Championship, they stand this way:
-13: Camilo Villegas
-12: Jim Furyk
-9: Anthony Kim, Tim Clark
-8: K.J. Choi, D.J. Trahan, Aaron Baddeley, Dudley Hart
-7: Stephen Ames
And Vijay Singh, the leader in the PGA Tour's playoff point standings, opened the final round tied for 48th, at 1-over par 211. However, there's an outside chance he can clinch the points title, and the $10 million sitting in the bowl of the FedEx Cup, today. That's not what the mammoth crowd on hand – there may be 40,000 here, including those fans using their tickets from Thursday, to see the final round – is looking for. Singh started on No. 10, well away from the leaders. It should be played under overcast skies after an early morning rain.
Updates as warranted; a complete report after the round.
– Tim Cronin
Writing from Town and Country, Mo.
Camilo Villegas slept so well holding a share of the lead in the 105th Western Open, he went and took the other half of it from Jim Furyk on Sunday morning.
Villegas, who had five holes remaining after play was suspended by darkness on Saturday evening, birdied the par-4 eighth hole, the 17th of his round, to move to 13 under par. He parred the par-4 ninth to complete a 4-under-par 66, finishing at 13-under 197, a stroke ahead of Furyk.
And it could have been better. He followed his curling 11-foot birdie on the eighth by nearly making a 54-footer for a bird on the ninth. The ball missed the cup by two inches.
As the leaders tee off for the final round of the retitled BMW Championship, they stand this way:
-13: Camilo Villegas
-12: Jim Furyk
-9: Anthony Kim, Tim Clark
-8: K.J. Choi, D.J. Trahan, Aaron Baddeley, Dudley Hart
-7: Stephen Ames
And Vijay Singh, the leader in the PGA Tour's playoff point standings, opened the final round tied for 48th, at 1-over par 211. However, there's an outside chance he can clinch the points title, and the $10 million sitting in the bowl of the FedEx Cup, today. That's not what the mammoth crowd on hand – there may be 40,000 here, including those fans using their tickets from Thursday, to see the final round – is looking for. Singh started on No. 10, well away from the leaders. It should be played under overcast skies after an early morning rain.
Updates as warranted; a complete report after the round.
– Tim Cronin
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