Camillo Villegas Leads Honda Classic Entering Final Round

Sports News - March 7th, 2010 - Written By Bryan Cross

Camillo Villegas continued his solid play over the last month and a half on the PGA Tour, and takes a three-shot lead heading into the final round of the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens.

After playing a solid front-nine, Villegas slipped back to the field slightly on the closing holes, but maintained a lead such that the field will have to chase him on Sunday.  He had three bogeys in five holes on the back side, but still fired a 67.

"I'm sleeping in my own bed this week, which is always nice," said Villegas, who is a resident of South Florid, like several Tour players. "I've been nice and relaxed. So we'll show up tomorrow the same way and try to play some good golf."

Nathan Green and Vijay Singh sit at 8-under par, behind Villegas at 11-under.

Following Green and Singh are George McNeill and Matt Every.  Every is a former teammate of Villegas at the University of Florida, and has played his way onto the front page of the leader board in several tournaments over the last few weeks.

Thirty-six hole leader Anthony Kim stumbled on Saturday, shooting a 73.  It leaves him now six-shots behind Villegas.

Despite the three-shot lead,  Villegas knows that he must go out on Sunday and execute his game plan.

"Golf tournaments are four days," Villegas remarked in a post-round interview. "So with that said, you've got to put four good rounds together and see what happens at the end."

Prior to the tournament, the difficult layout of the golf course was what took center stage.  A shift in weather caused variations in winds, leaving players shaking their heads in frustration.

Saturday, a controlled burn in the area left a smokey haze on the field, and the gallery that attended.

The burn took place at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, which is roughly 14 miles from the course.  Due to change in wind direction, the smoke made it into the area.  While play was not stopped, it noticeably affect players.

"It's not great, but everyone's dealing with it," said Green after the round "It's strange when you're looking down, hitting your putt and you've got ashes sort of going past your ball. We had that a few holes in, I think on 13 and 14. It's different. I don't think guys are really worried about it. You can just sort of smell it and taste it."

Singh was able to navigate his way around Palm Beach Gardens for his third consecutive sub-70 round.  He is within striking distance entering the final round, and if he can catch Villegas, it will mark his first win since his 2008 FedEx Cup triumph.

"It's not going to be easy for nobody tomorrow," Singh said following Saturday's round. "I'm just going to go out and play solid, try not to make too many mistakes. If you can keep the mistakes to a minimum, I think you'll be OK."

Villegas and Singh headlines the betting favorites entering Sunday's final round.  Villegas has been set as the asserted favorite, with odds at 1/2 according to the PGA Tour betting lines at Bodog.  Singh has been installed with odds at 9/2.