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 He was one shot out of the lead and in the middle of the fairway on the par-5 18th hole at PGA National, 263 yards from the flag with a big lake between the end of the fairway and the green. Villegas never gave it a second thought.
"I had a perfect number there," he said Thursday. "It was just a normal 3-wood. My caddie said, 'Where are you going to go with this one?' And I said, 'I'm looking straight at the flag.' And I hit a great shot."
The 31-year-old Colombian drilled his shot over the water and onto the green about 8 feet away to close with an eagle for a 6-under 64, his lowest opening round on the PGA Tour in more than a year. It also gave him a one-shot lead as he heads into the second round Friday when the greens at PGA National are at their best.
The eagle put him atop the leaderboard over four players, including rising South African star Branden Grace and Rickie Fowler. Grace finished with four straight birdies for his 65 in his first round at the Honda Classic.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods each opened with a 70 and walked away feeling much differently about their day.
Woods played in the cool, cloudy morning and was in danger of a big number late in his round when he decided to take off his socks and shoes, don rain pants and step into a creek to play a shot half-submerged in the water. Instead of taking a drop that could have led to double bogey, he escaped with par and rallied for a 70.
"I wasn't trying to advance it very far, just make sure I got it back in the fairway and give myself some kind of wedge shot in there, which I did," Woods said.
McIlroy was 1 under for his day when his wedge from 105 yards sailed over the 18th green, he chipped to just inside 8 feet and took bogey when he missed the putt. It felt even worse coming on the easiest hole at PGA National, which played about a half-shot below par.
"I only had 105 yards in for my third shot and ended up taking a 6," McIlroy said. "Wasn't the nicest way to finish. I saw enough pretty good golf out there to be positive going into the next few days."
Villegas will take just about anything positive at this stage in his career.
He was a rising star when he won back-to-back FedEx Cup playoff events in 2008, and rose to a career-best No. 7 in the world the following year. But the last 18 months have brought nothing but trouble, a slump so severe that Villegas lost his full status and didn't come particularly close to getting it back at Q-school last year.
Villegas is playing this year on sponsors' exemptions and is popular enough to build a full schedule. But he needs to perform, and he hasn't had a great start to the year with two missed cuts and a middle-of-the-pack finish in the California desert.
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"This game is great when you're playing good," Villegas said. "When you're out here missing cuts and missing cuts, I don't care what people say. Yes, we're blessed to have this job, but it's not that much fun. ... The game was kicking my butt a little bit. That's a good way to put it. But I know who I am. I know I belong out here. I know how good I can be, and therefore, that's why you're just going to keep your head up and keep working."
Villegas won the Honda Classic in 2010 at PGA National, so he at least has that to build on.
Grace, part of the core of young South Africans on the rise, had heard plenty about the water and trouble on Nos. 15, 16 and 17 , a stretched dubbed "Bear's Trap" in honor of course designer Jack Nicklaus. He saw it on TV and talked to Charl Schwartzel about it last week.
And he brought a little trepidation with him to PGA National.
"I sat down with Charl last week at the Match Play and he said, 'Listen, the four finishing holes are quite a beast out there.' So I was a little nervous coming here," Grace said. "I just thought, 'What's going to happen around that corner?'"
The first one was easy after a tee shot into 2 feet on the par-3 15th. He holed birdie putts of about 18 feet on the next two holes, and then his 3-iron barely cleared the water in front of the green on the par-5 18th, leading to a simple up-and-down to finish in style.
Dustin Johnson, coming off two missed cuts and a first-round loss in the Match Play, sorted out his issues with the driver and opened at 66 to join a group that included Lee Westwood, Sean O'Hair, Boo Weekley and Ben Kohles, who won back-to-back Web.com Tour events last year in his two starts after turning pro to earn a tour card.
Woods didn't hit it all that poorly, except for his tee shot on the par-4 sixth, with the tees moved forward 40 yards. He drove it left and down the bank into the water. Because of where it first crossed the hazard, he would have had no chance to get near the green after a penalty drop. Woods saw enough of the ball to give it a shot.
He removed his shoes and socks as the gallery came to life. The ball shot out with a big splash, leaving Woods about 80 yards to a front pin. He hit wedge to 8 feet and saved par.
"I was 1 over at the time, and if that ball is not playable from where it's at, where I crossed was pretty far back," Woods said. "Looking at 6 -- 3 over -- and all of a sudden I flip it, make par there and birdie the next."
[Associated
Press; By DOUG FERGUSON]
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