PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Camilo Villegas was checking his phone constantly on the driving range, barely bothering to hit any balls and instead seeking updates on how his brother was doing at a Nationwide Tour event in their native Colombia.
As Villegas showed all week, practice can be overrated.
Villegas shot a final-round 68 to win the Honda Classic by five shots Sunday over Anthony Kim, his third PGA Tour victory and a perfect way to cap a week that began with one celebration and ended with another.
He finished at 13-under-par 267, the lowest 72-hole score since the Honda moved to PGA National in 2007, four shots better than Y.E. Yang’s winning total a year ago. And Villegas made it look easy most of the way, capping his day with a 20-footer for birdie on the 18th hole.
“I’ve just had good vibes in me all week,” said Villegas, who climbed to No. 12 in the world rankings.
He led by only two after Vijay Singh made a 45-foot birdie putt at the par-3 fifth, but three straight birdies — starting with a 25-footer on No. 8 — sent Villegas to 15-under and six shots clear of the field.
Good thing he had that cushion, because the putter stopped working after that. Fortunately for Villegas, no one made much of a run.
“It’s very special,” Villegas said. “I’m just very privileged to do what I do. But trust me, it’s tough.”
Last week after finishing tied for eighth at the Phoenix Open, Villegas headed to his native Colombia for a slew of events — sponsor dinner, youth clinic, pretournament party, all within about a 36-hour window — to help open the Nationwide Tour’s Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open, the first PGA Tour-sanctioned event in South America. His brother, Manuel, finished tied for 15th in the event.
