Camilo Villegas went into Thursday’s first round of the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass with no expectations.
After all, he had not hit a golf shot in competition since Feb. 9 in his native country of Colombia, when he tied for fourth in the Bogota Championship. Since the coronavirus pandemic forced a shutdown in professional golf after the first round of the Players Championship on March 12, his best guess is that he played several practice rounds in Jupiter, Florida.
Then there was the main reason he wasn’t going to stress over bad shots or missed putts: his 20-month-old daughter Mia is undergoing treatment for tumors on her brain and spine, which he revealed on Wednesday during an emotional news conference.
Scores | Villegas and his daughter | Monday qualifier
“Like I said [Wednesday] … play good, good,” he said. “Play bad, good. I’m in a different place right now.”
Then, after being told by his brother and caddie Manuel Villegas to “go out and have fun,” Villegas birdied six of his first 12 holes and survived a sloppy finish to shoot 3-under 67 at Dye’s Valley to finish in a tie for 10th, three shots behind leader Paul Barjon (64), a native of France who played college golf at TCU.
A group of veterans with PGA Tour experience were bunched together in a tie for second at 4 under, including Tim Wilkinson of Jacksonville Beach, Erik Compton, Luke List, Scott Langley and Ryan Brehm.
Joining Villegas at 3 under were Ben Martin, who nearly won the Players Championship five years ago at the neighboring Stadium Course, Curtis Luck, who had a hole-in-one at No. 11, his second hole, and PGA Tour veterans Mark Anderson, Tag Ridings and Roberto Diaz.
There are 22 players within three shots of Barjon as the field of 155 players took advantage of light wind and soft greens to average just a shade over the par of 70 on the Valley Course.
Villegas was the fifth alternate into the tournament and after those dominoes fell, he made his first start in four months. Beginning at No. 10, he birdied three of his first four, countered a bogey at No. 15 with birdies at Nos. 16 and 18, then turned and birdied the par-5 first hole to take the tournament lead at 5-under.
Villegas bogeyed two of his last four holes but he wasn’t about to complain – especially about his work on the speedy Valley greens, where he needed only 26 putts.
“There were a couple of mistakes but I rolled it beautiful on the back nine, my front nine,” he said. “All in all, I’m happy to be here. More than the scoring, more than anything, it just feels good to have the energy. There was some good energy coming my way and I felt it. It was awesome.”
Part of that energy was the outpouring of texts, emails, phone calls and prayers after the former University of Florida All-American and four-time PGA Tour winner talked about the challenges his daughter faces.
“My phone was blowing up,” he said. “The support and the energy, the prayers and all the good stuff coming from everybody because they feel it and they feel for you and I felt it out there.”
Villegas also thanked fans who posted their feelings on social media.
“It’s pretty touching to see how many people think about you,” he said. “Especially in tough situations. I think my message was pretty clear. Don’t feel bad for us. Just send us good energy, a little prayer for Mia would be great. She’ll keep fighting and we’ll keep fighting. One day we’ll celebrate when she’s clean. I felt that energy and those prayers. I’m sure they’ll continue to send us the good vibes.”
Barjon, a former TCU player, took the lead after a pedestrian front nine (the Valley’s back) in which he made one birdie.
He then rattled off five birdies among his first seven holes on the front.
“I hit the ball pretty good all day but during the first nine holes, I had some issues with the speed of the greens,” said Barjon, who lost to David Kocher in sudden death in the Korn Ferry’s last tournament at the El Bosque Mexico Championship. “I don’t remember the last time I’ve played greens this fast and they’re soft at the same time, so they’re hard to figure out. On the back nine, I hit it a little closer and made a few putts. My speed was a little better so, I definitely turned it on.”
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