Colombia’s Camilo Villegas captured the title at the US$7 million BMW Championship on Sunday, going wire-to-wire for his maiden victory on the US PGA Tour.
Villegas needed just 25 putts for a final round 68 to hold off American Dudley Hart, who stormed to a five-under 65 and finished two strokes back.
Villegas’ win puts him in second place in the season-ending playoff points race behind Fiji’s Vijay Singh, who likely clinched the title.
The 26-year-old Colombian rolled in a three-foot putt on the final hole to seal the victory and finish with a 15-under 265 total.
He is the first player to win his first PGA title in wire-to-wire fashion since Tim Herron at the 1996 Honda Classic.
Meanwhile, Singh, who won the first two playoff events, cannot be overtaken in the playoff standings as long as he completes 72 holes at the Tour Championship.
And even if he somehow is disqualified and receives no points, he will take the title anyway unless Villegas wins the tournament.
Villegas started the final round with a one-stroke lead over Jim Furyk of the US, but fell behind after six holes, before hitting the front again at the par-four ninth, which Furyk bogeyed.
If one hole was pivotal, it was the par-four 10th, where Furyk made another bogey.
Villegas was also in danger of dropping a shot after hitting a weak first putt from the fringe, but he drained a downhill seven-footer to save par and increase his lead to two strokes.
More birdies at 13 and 14 gave Villegas a nice cushion over the fast-finishing Hart, who birdied the final two holes.
■EUROPEAN MASTERS
AFP, CRANS-SUR-SIERRE, SWITZERLAND
France’s Jean-Francois Lucquin won the European Masters on Sunday, beating longtime leader Rory McIlroy in a play-off.
The Frenchman shot a bogey free 67 to wipe out the 19-year-old Northern Irishman’s four-shot overnight lead and snatched the title with a birdie at the second play-off hole.
McIlroy, trying to become the third-youngest winner in European Tour history, missed a five foot putt for par at the 18th that would have given him the title.
But worse was to follow as he then missed again from only about 18 inches at the second play-off hole.
It left Lucquin with two putts to win from 12 feet, but he needed only one of them for victory.
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Ninad Malwade was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
This year’s Taiwan Athletics Open, which offers Taiwanese athletes an opportunity to compete against their international peers, would be held under a new name after its organizers had earlier announced the event’s cancelation. In a statement issued yesterday, the Chinese Taipei Athletics Association said the competition would still take place on June 6-7 at Banciao Stadium, but under the name “New Taipei City Athletics Open 2026.” The event was given a new name to emphasize its local identity and conform with the international practice of naming World Athletics Tour events after cities, the association said. It said it would soon
RSS