We were amazed at Vijay Singh’s two FedEx Cup victories in a row, thinking it can’t be matched. Then Camilo Villegas goes and does the same thing.
Singh held on to claim the FedEx Cup and the $10 million that comes with it, but Villegas came within a whisker of the Fijian when few thought anyone would come close.
Villegas beat Sergio Garcia – who else? – in a play-off to win THE TOUR Championship, the final tournament of the four-leg FedEx Cup play-off series for his second title in a row.
Singh had won the first two tournaments and only had to complete four rounds at East Lake, Atlanta to make sure of the overall title.
However, the final standings show the Fijian on 125,101 points and the Colombia second on 124,550 points. Garcia, who has a habit of losing play-offs this season, finished third on 119,400.
Villegas and Garcia finished on seven-under 273 for the tournament with the Colombian shooting a brilliant four-under-par 66 on the final day to draw equal with the Spaniard, who closed with 71.
First round leader Anthony Kim finished with 69 to finish stroke behind the leaders alongside Phil Mickelson, who also had 69.
Ben Curtis (70) was four strokes back in fifth place on 278 while Ernie Els and Jim Furyk both scored 69 for a share of sixth place on 280.
Villegas trailed by five shots overnight but charged up the field with six birdies in the final 11 holes.
He finally caught Garcia on the 17th thanks to a 12-foot birdie putt then parred the last by two-putting form 45 feet.
Villegas did the same thing on the same hole at the first play-off hole for a par, which was enough to beat Garcia.
Garcia also lost in a play-off to Singh at The Barclays, where Villegas missed the cut, which effectively prevented him from challenging Singh for the overall FedEx Cup title over the weekend.
Singh closed with a 70 to total nine-over-par 289 and end up tied for 22nd with Chad Campbell.
There was also a play-off at The Belfry in Britain where Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano edged England’s defending champion Lee Westwood to win the British Masters.
Overcoming a three-stroke deficit from the third round, the Spaniard shot a final round of 67 to match Westwood’s four-round total of 12-under-par 276 after his 68.
The duo fought out a tense final day with New Zealand’s former US Open champion Michael Campbell.
However, Campbell eventually fell out of the reckoning, closing with a 72 to finish two strokes behind the leaders.
The play-off was a thrilling affair with both men needing three attempts at the 18th to find a winner. In the first extra hole, Westwood saved par from eight feet to keep the title alive.
In the next attempt, it was Fernandez-Castano’s turn to save himself from eight feet as Westwood chipped to within inches from the hole.
As the light was fading, Westwood hit an eight-iron into the rough and his opponent made the most of it and landed his fourth European Tour title.
