Key players hit form as Villegas returns to the winners circle

Post by Sports Writer, Derek Clements 

THE week started so well for Tom Watson. If ever an American Ryder Cup captain needed his fringe players to prove to him that they were coming into form, it was Watson.

And things looked pretty rosy for him at the Wyndham Championship, with Brandt Snedeker, Bill Haas, Webb Simpson and Nick Watney all in contention going into the final round. With continuing injury concerns over Jason Dufner, Watson would happily include all four of these guys in his team - if only they could show him something.

In the end, they all came up short, with Camillo Villegas making a welcome return to the winners' circle.

Snedeker, in particular, needed a good week. One of the best putters in the game, and with an ability to remain as cool as a cucumber under pressure, Sneds has endured a miserable season, but there have been some encouraging signs of late.

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However, it seems that for every step forward he has taken, there has been a backward one. In 22 events this season he has missed only three cuts, but the other side of the coin is that he has had just two top 10 finishes with a best of tied eighth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. It certainly wasn't what he had in mind at the beginning of 2014.

Starting the week in 69th place in the FedEx Cup, his place in the playoffs was assured, but Snedeker has loftier ambitions. Like Simpson, he is a past winner at Greensboro. And, like Simpson, he began the final round 11 under par, three behind Watney. Haas was 10 under.

If Snedeker was looking for a good finish, Watney was in need of something rather better after seven missed cuts, one top 10 finish and a season that saw him start the week languishing in 110th place in the FedEx Cup, with a world ranking that had tumbled to 75.

After rounds of 67, 64 and 65, Watney said that his aim on day four was to avoid mistakes. It hardly seemed like a lofty target.

As things turned out, it was another man seeking redemption who came tearing through the field. Villegas has won three times on the PGA Tour, but the last victory came back back in 2010 and he lost his card in 2012. Last year was hardly a stellar one either. He retained his playing privileges, but only after finishing 110th in the FedEx Cup.

He was four off the lead at the start of the day, but an eagle and four birdies took him to the turn in 29. After 12 holes he was 16 under and a shot ahead of Haas and Watney. Heath Slocum, Brad Fritsch and Freddie Jacobson, of Sweden, were a shot further adrift.

Watney dropped a shot at the second, but birdies at the fifth, seventh and ninth took him out in 33 and into a share of the lead with Villegas, a Colombian who can't qualify for the US Ryder Cup team.

Watney showed he is made from special stuff when he moved to 17 under with a birdie at the 11th. Villegas still hadn't found a birdie on the back nine and remained a stroke behind, with Haas, Jacobson and Slocum all 15 under. But back came Villegas with a birdie of his own at the 15th. Haas birdied the 12th and 15th to move to 16 under and was tied with Watney, who dropped a shot at the 14th. Jacobson made it a three-way tie on 16 under when he also birdied the par-five 15th, and Slocum joined them when he went one better with an eagle at the same hole.

With holes running out, five players were separated by a single shot. Villegas finished with his second 63 of the week and had to wait to find out whether his 17-under-par total of 263 would be good enough, and it looked like he would be facing a play-off when Jacobson birdied the 16th to join him on 17 under. Sadly, the Swede bogeyed the final hole and finished tied with Haas on 16 under. Only Slocum and Watney could catch Villegas now, but Slocum also dropped a shot on the 18th and Watney fared even worse, finishing with a double bogey.

And so the regular season comes to an end. The top 125 players now progress to The Braclays, the first of the FedEx Cup playoff events. They will be whittled down to 100, who will play in the Deutsche Bank Championship, with the top 70 progressing to the BMW Championship, before an elite field of 30 head for the Tour Championship and the prospect of much gold. Last year, Henrik Stenson walked away with a barrowload of dollars. Two years ago it was Rory McIlroy. And it is McIlroy who leads the way again.

After that comes the Ryder Cup.

Derek Clements is a sports journalist with a particular passion for golf with over 12 years of experience covering golf and other sports including Chief Sub-Editor on the sports desk of The Sunday Times. To contact Derek email direct via [email protected]