Teary Camilo Villegas wins first PGA Tour event in nine (!) years
Camilo Villegas claimed his first PGA Tour victory in nine years at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Course.
Camilo Villegas was reduced to tears after he claimed his first PGA Tour victory since 2014 at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.
Villegas came into the final round at Port Royal Golf Course trailing Sweden's Alex Noren by two strokes.
The Colombian was in superb form on Sunday, posting a flawless bogey-free final round of 6-under 65 to clinch the victory by two strokes over Noren.
Villegas, 41, last tasted victory at the Wyndham Championship. Since then, he has endured trauma beyond belief after his daughter Mia died when she was 22-months-old following battles with spine and brain cancer.
He was close to giving up the game altogether.
"My little one was up there watching," a tearful Villegas said in the immediate aftermath of victory having reached 24-under after four rounds.
He continued: "[It is] tough to put in words right now, but wow, what a ride, man. You know what, I love this game.
"This game has given me so many great things, but in the process it kicks your butt. Life has given me so many great things and in the process it kicks my butt, too."
Villegas came close to victory last week at the World Wide Technology Championship but Erik van Rooyen came out of nowhere to steal his maiden win.
He added: "The support has been unbelievable, I mean, at every angle. The amount of text messages I got last week, I must have got 500 text messages, I didn't even win the golf tournament. I felt the energy. You know what, it kept building up.
"Everybody here on the island was great, they were just rooting me on. Got to believe in energy, man. Like I said, I've got my little one up there watching it, smiling. She's where she needs to be after a long fight."
His victory means he is now exempt on the PGA Tour for two years.
He has also earned spots into the 2025 Players and the 48th Masters. Elsewhere, Matti Schmid and Adam Scott finished inside the top-10.
YouTuber George Bryan remarkably made the cut and eventually finished T-69 on 6-under. His younger brother Wesley, also a Tour winner, finished T-37 on 12-under.
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