Villegas rallies for playoff win in Tour Championship
Villegas overcame a five-shot deficit by making six birdies over his last 11 holes for a 4-under 66, then beat Garcia with a par in the playoff on the 233-yard 18th. The 26-year-old Colombian, who had gone 85 starts on the PGA Tour without winning, picked up his second in a row on a sunny afternoon at East Lake.
He birdied the 17th hole from 12 feet to catch Garcia, then twice hit beautiful lag putts from outside 45 feet, once in regulation to finish at 7-under 273, then in the playoff to cap off his tour season in style.
Villegas, who should move to No. 6 in the world ranking today, earned $1.26 million for winning the Tour Championship.
Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson each shot 69, and each had a chance to join the playoff. Kim, playing in the second-to-last group with Villegas, missed from 30 feet. Mickelson’s 20-foot birdie putt stayed above the hole.
Garcia missed a 20-foot birdie putt to win, then never gave himself much of a chance on the 18th hole in the playoff.
The consolation prize might be the Vardon Trophy for lowest adjusted scoring average. Garcia came into the Tour Championship trailing Mickelson by one-hundredth of a point, and wound up at 69.40. Mickelson finished at 69.42.
Vijay Singh effectively wrapped up the $10 million prize two weeks ago in St. Louis, so all he had to do was finish 72 holes at East Lake and sign for the correct score to win the FedEx Cup.
Navistar LPGA Classic
PRATTVILLE, Ala. – Lorena Ochoa won the Navistar LPGA Classic on Sunday for her seventh victory of the year and first since May, beating Candie Kung with a 2-foot par putt on the second hole of a playoff.
Recharged after a month away from the tour, the top-ranked Mexican star closed with a 2-under 70 to match Kung (67) and Cristie Kerr (66) at 15-under 273. Kerr was eliminated with a bogey on the first extra hole.
SAS Championship
CARY, N.C. – Argentina’s Eduardo Romero won the SAS Championship for his third Champions Tour victory in five starts, closing with a 6-under 66 for a three-stroke victory over Tom Kite.
British Masters
SUTTON COLDFIELD, England – Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano won the British Masters, beating defending champion Lee Westwood with a par on the third playoff hole of a playoff. Castano closed with a 5-under 67 to match Westwood at 12-under 276.
Copyright Associated Press 2008