BMW Championship spotlight: Camilo Villegas

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Sep. 8, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM

Each week during the 2009 season, PGATOUR.COM will spotlight one key player in the field. (Click here to see previous spotlights.) For this week's BMW Championship, it's two-time TOUR winner Spider-Man ... also known as Camilo Villegas.

Consider this file to be your one-stop source for everything concerning
Camilo this week, with links to Camilo-related content, notes, stats, video and other multimedia elements.

What's on Camilo's mind?

The defending BMW champion weighs in on a few topics

ON THE ECONOMY: "Well, to be very honest, we've been lucky as players. The PGA TOUR has done a great job, Commissioner Finchem has worked with us, the players, in terms of providing good service in terms of being very strong in believing in all the charity work the PGA TOUR does and having a very focused plan, which we have. Again, we've been very lucky. We will feel the hard times in the economy, I'm sure, but so far we're just trying to focus on just providing good service and keep doing all the charity work we're doing and providing a good show for the customers and the fans out there. Hopefully we can continue to do that."

ON THE CHANGES TO COG HILL: " You know what, I've always enjoyed playing Cog Hill. It was fun to play St. Louis. Obviously I enjoyed playing that golf course. But I've always enjoyed playing Cog Hill, and I'm really looking forward to the changes that Rees made to the golf course. So far I've only heard great things. I'm sure he made it even a little tougher for us. So we'll see. It's always a challenge. The new SubAir system is going to be great. It's going to make the greens a lot more consistent, and not only coming from me but from a lot of players, we all look forward to coming back and seeing the golf course how it is and challenging ourselves."

ON THE LENGTH OF COG HILL: "Well, one thing is lengthening and another thing is how the PGA TOUR will go ahead and set up the golf course. You can get both ends. If you have the length there and they want to use it, they can use it. And if they don't, they don't need to. It gives you more options in terms of how you play a golf course. But to be honest, do I really look at the scorecard and see how long a golf course is? Never. I mean, sometimes I don't even know what the par is (laughter). Seriously, is it 71 or 72? I have to even think about it. I just look at every shot, look at every target and just try to put good swings, because at the end of the day you've got to add your scores, and if you shoot one less than the rest, then you'll take a trophy home."

ON PLAYING TOUR EVENTS AT PUBLIC COURSES: "Yeah, to be honest, it's fun. Knowing that anybody out there can go and play the golf course where we're competing on a great championship, it's awesome. It gives them a chance to experience what we experience to test themselves and to have fun with it."

About the art

New York City artist Steven Anthony Salerno created the original artwork for this week's Player Spotlight on defending FedExCup champion Vijay Singh. Here is how Salerno created the artwork:
"Camilo Villegas is an excellent player among other equally skilled players, but he has a charisma on the course that many of the others do not possess. I guess it is a natural trait one is born with and grows into when hard work, talent and opportunity merge. In my portrayal of Villegas, I just wanted to capture some of his bravado and spark. The painting (in gouache on watercolor paper) is actually very small in size, but the black background against the drama of his pose and white clothing gives it a very large feel."
To see a larger image of the artwork, as well as previous work by the artist, click here

Featured videos

	IN THE BAG. Camilo gives us an inside look at what he carries in his bag. Click here to watch
	OUTSIDE THE ROPES. Learn about Camilo's favorite meal, his love for fashion and what he does away from the course. Click here to watch
	THE NICKNAME. Camilo discusses his Spider-Man nickname. Click here to watch
	EAGLES FOR ST. JUDE. Camilo and Vijay Singh support the Eagles for St. Jude program. Click here to watch
	READY FOR THE CAMERA. With his instantly recognizable putting pose, Camilo does a photo shoot for Golf Magazine. Click here to watch

Camilo's top 10 statistics

Camilo Villegas ranks in the top 10 in three stats on the 2009 PGA TOUR:

Stat	Number	TOUR rank
Eagles	10	7th
Average Going for it Shot Distance (in Yards)	249.1	9th
Approaches from 75-100 yards	14 feet, one inch	5th

Take Five

Five things you should know about Camilo Villegas

	Camilo Villegas is known for his commitment to physical fitness and says his mentor and inspiration is golf icon Gary Player.
	He was nicknamed "El Hombre Araña" by his native Colombians because of the trademark spider-like pose he uses to read greens.
	An alumnus of the University of Florida, Villegas frequently visits the UF golf course when he is spending time in his adopted hometown of Gainesville. While at Florida, Camilo was a four time All-American, won eight individual titles, and he was named SEC Player of the Year twice.
	Villegas will compete in the Presidents Cup for the first time next month. He will play for Captain Greg Norman's International Team at Harding Park.
	One of his favorite hobbies is cycling. While on a trip home to Colombia, a good friend of his introduced him to the cardio-filled pastime, and he was hooked.