Tour round up: The Tour Championship
- Monday, 29 September 2008
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PGA Tour
The Tour Championship
East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta
September 25-28, purse $7,000,000, par 70
Camilo Villegas denied overnight leader Sergio Garcia to land The Tour Championship in Atlanta and bring the FedEx Cup to a close.
The Colombian added the title to his BMW Championship win just three weeks ago and saw him finish second to Fijian Vijay Singh in the final FedEx Cup standings.
Villegas fired eight birdies in his 66 to force a play-off that his Spanish rival would not have wanted after his defeat to Singh at the Barclays last month.
And when the Ryder Cupper’s tee shot at the extra hole on 18 came up short, Villegas was able to claim the $1,260,000 first prize with a regulation par three.
After Garcia had reined in first day leader and Ryder Cup rival Anthony Kim, the scene was set for another fiery encounter with Phil Mickelson also lurking, only for Villegas to sneak in and claim the title, forcing a play-off with a decisive birdie on 17.
“Probably the shot of the tournament right there,” he admitted. There's a great chance the ball is going to plug if it comes up short in that bunker, a yard long and it's in the water.”
Meanwhile, a frustrated Garcia struggled to explain his defeat. "For whatever reason, I struggled the first 10 holes," he said. "I don't know why, because I've been playing nicely and it shouldn't be any different. But I just didn't commit to my shots the way I should have and then I paid the price."
Kim and Mickelson ended up in a tie for third with Ben Curtis alone in fifth two clear of Ernie Els, Jim Furyk and Mike Weir.
1 Camilo Villegas (Col) 72 66 69 66 273
2 Sergio Garcia (Esp) 70 65 67 71 273
T3 Anthony Kim (USA) 64 69 72 69 274
T3 Phil Mickelson (USA) 68 68 69 69 274
5 Ben Curtis (USA) 71 69 68 70 278
T6 Ernie Els (Rsa) 68 73 70 69 280
T6 Jim Furyk (USA) 72 70 69 69 280
T6 Mike Weir (USA) 70 69 71 70 280
9 KJ Choi (Kor) 69 70 70 72 281
Key moment: Villegas birdies the difficult 17th to force a play-off
Note: Players in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
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